A man who sold weight-loss pills online which were made from poison has been jailed for three years.
Kyle Enos, 33, was charged with multiple drug offences and pleaded guilty at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court earlier this year.
Enos, from Maesteg, Bridgend, in South Wales, had previously been in prison for selling fentanyl online. Soon after being released, he bought the drug 2,4-dinotrophenol, or DNP.
DNP is an industrial chemical which is poisonous to humans and has been banned for human consumption in the UK. It can cause serious physical side effects and even death in some cases.
Enos was arrested by officers from Tarian, the Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) for southern Wales, in July 2024 after they received information from the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Enos purchased the pure form sodium salt of 2,4-dinitrophenol powder from China via the dark web. He then manufactured the pills using cutting agents and a pill press in his bedroom.
He advertised the pills and other regulated medications on a website he created.
Enos would ship the products, disguised as vitamins and minerals, both domestically within the UK and internationally.
He was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court on Thursday to 36 months in prison for multiple counts relating to the supply of a regulated substance and failure to comply with a serious crime prevention order.
Detective constable Kieran Morris, of Tarian ROCU, said: “Operation Guazuma was a proactive partnership investigation with the NCA, the National Food Crime Unit, the Ministry of Defence, HM Prison and Probation Service, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority, and South Wales Police.
“The swift arrest of Enos and the removal of these poisonous diet pills from the open market was our utmost priority. Enos was supplying the pills with no safety precautions in place, and no advice on dosages. This could have led to buyers becoming extremely ill or even dying.
“Tarian ROCU are committed to safeguarding members of the public not only within our region, but across the United Kingdom and beyond. The sentence handed down to Enos today should serve as a warning to others engaging in similar criminality.”
