A sophisticated and significant drug manufacturing and firearms conspiracy, spearheaded by an 80-year-old National Lottery winner, John Eric Spiby Snr, has been dismantled by Greater Manchester Police (GMP), leading to lengthy jail terms for Spiby and his associates. Spiby Snr, who won £2.4 million in 2010, eschewed a quiet retirement to establish an 'industrial-scale' illicit operation, boasting to his co-conspirators, "Elon and Jeff best watch their backs."

The primary drug lab was ingeniously hidden in converted stables behind Spiby Snr's Clover Cottage in Wigan, designed to blend in with its picturesque country lane setting, complete with frosted windows. Inside, high-spec machinery churned out tens of thousands of counterfeit diazepam pills, which actually contained the highly dangerous substance etizolam. These unregulated and unchecked pills were sold on the streets for 65p each. Spiby Snr further expanded his empire in 2021 by setting up a second lab at the Albion Unit in Salford, valued by police at £210,000, and securing a three-phase electricity supply to power the advanced machinery.

The operation involved his son, John Spiby Jnr, 37, and associates Lee Drury, 45, and Callum Dorrian, 35. Drury played a crucial role by renting a shipping container on Chaddock Lane in Astley for storing materials and millions of counterfeit tablets awaiting distribution. To maintain a facade of legitimacy, Drury created a fake company, 'NutraInk,' in August 2020, complete with a website advertising tablet presses, mixers, and powdered supplements, allowing the gang to operate under the guise of a lawful business. Between June 2020 and May 2022, the group acquired £200,000 worth of machinery and ingredients.

Police launched Operation Venetic between November 2021 and May 2022, targeting organised crime groups exploiting encrypted messaging systems like EncroChat. Dorrian, operating under the handle 'Fallensoda,' used these platforms to discuss the supply of various firearms, including AK-47s, Uzis, Tec-9s, Scorpions, Grand Power pistols, silencers, and ammunition, alongside his involvement in mass-producing fake prescription drugs. Surveillance led officers to Clover Cottage, and on April 1, 2022, they intercepted an Enterprise van loaded by Dorrian and Drury from the Chaddock Lane storage site, discovering 2.6 million counterfeit diazepam tablets with an estimated street value of £1 million to £5.2 million.

Despite the initial interception, the illicit activities continued. On May 17, 2022, officers executed multiple warrants, raiding the premises and seizing three viable firearms, ammunition, substantial amounts of cash, industrial tablet-manufacturing machinery, and a vast quantity of counterfeit drugs and raw materials. Police also uncovered forged documents where Spiby Snr was listed as the lease-holder for the cottage, and he later pressured a solicitor to lie on his behalf regarding the signing of these documents.

The scale of the conspiracy was staggering, with officers estimating the group produced counterfeit tablets with a bulk value between £7.2 million and £12.9 million, and a potential street value ranging from £57.6 million to £288 million. During sentencing, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC told the defendants, "You were all at a senior level as a board of control. This was a very sophisticated and very significant commercial scale organised conspiracy – you were the source." He noted that Spiby Snr, despite his lottery win and