World · Europe · 1 hr ago
Three men arrested over illegal medicine websites linked to three deaths
Dutch police arrested three men suspected of running illegal medicine websites and took 30 sites offline.
The men are suspected of selling prescription-only medicines and drugs through websites aimed mainly at customers in the Netherlands, with some sales to Germany and France.
Police say the men continued trading through new sites after Slaappillen.net was shut down last year.
A woman from Voorburg died after ordering oxycodone from that site; her pills contained nitazenes, a dangerous synthetic drug that can cause an overdose.
Police link at least three deaths to the pills sold through the sites and say some may have contained contaminated oxycodone.
This matters because customers often cannot know what is in pills bought online, putting them at serious health risk.
Police seized the servers as well as the websites, hoping to make it harder for the operators to restart, and say more arrests remain possible.
Police arrested three men in the Netherlands over illegal medicine websites linked to the deaths of three people.
Police also took 30 websites offline and seized the servers used to run them.
The men are suspected of setting up and managing replacement websites after Slaappillen.net was shut down.
The sites sold illegal medicines, including pills that may have contained contaminated oxycodone.
Police say the medicines’ exact composition was often unknown, putting users at serious health risk.
- Who
- Three men, aged 35, 39 and 66, were arrested.
- What
- They are suspected of offering, selling and supplying illegal medicines linked to three deaths.
- When
- The arrests took place during the week of October 22, 2026.
- Where
- The men are from Kwintsheul, Rotterdam and The Hague. The websites targeted customers in the Netherlands and sometimes Germany and France.
- Why
- Police suspect the men continued selling illegal medicines through replacement websites after an earlier site was shut down.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Slaappillen.net was shut down after a woman from Voorburg died after ordering oxycodone from the site.
Police arrested three men and took 30 websites offline.
Two men alleged to have played a subordinate role in the organisation behind Slaappillen.net are due in court.
- Websites taken offline
- 30
- Deaths linked to pills
- At least 3
- Arrested suspects
- A 35-year-old man from Kwintsheul, a 39-year-old man from Rotterdam and a 66-year-old man from The Hague
- Medicine cited
- Oxycodone
- Other markets targeted
- Germany and France
4 sources
Drie aanhoudingen en 30 websites offline in onderzoek naar illegale medicijnen en harddrugs
Drie arrestaties en dertig websites offline na sterfgevallen door neppillen
Politie haalt webshops uit de lucht die gevaarlijke namaakmedicijnen verkochten
What people are saying
We have taken down all the technology behind the websites
This makes it harder to start up again
Compliments to the police that there is finally progress in the search for the organisation behind the website that proved fatal to our daughter