Prosecutors say 18 deaths linked to Funcaps drugs website

Prosecutors believe they can prove that 18 people died after taking substances bought from the online drugs shop Funcaps, the public prosecution department (OM) told a court in Zwolle on Thursday.

A further four deaths are still being examined, the OM said at a preliminary hearing. The department had previously been investigating 58 deaths that might be connected to the site, but said it had not found enough hard evidence to link the rest.

Funcaps sold a range of substances, among them bromazolam, a sedative; O-DSMT, an opioid painkiller; and 2F-ketamine, an anaesthetic. The products came with no package inserts or usage instructions, and sales were pushed with discount deals and sample packs, prosecutors said.

The site’s Dutch owners, Jord van W (31) and Stefan P (30), began selling fake pills in Belgium during the pandemic. Prosecutors say the pair were unclear about Belgian law and about exactly what they were selling, and left the health risks to their customers.

A Belgian appeal court has already handed the two prison terms of up to three years, of which 18 months unconditional, for illegally trading in medicines and drugs, along with fines and the seizure of suspected proceeds. That case is now before Belgium’s Court of Cassation.

The Dutch case has grown since the men first appeared in court in 2025, when prosecutors put the possible death toll at 27. It later rose to a possible 58 before being narrowed to the 18 the department now says it can stand up.

Funcaps is one of several fake-medicine and designer-drug operations under scrutiny in the Netherlands, a trade recently traced in part to chemicals imported from India.