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Pharmacist jailed for illegal sale and supply of prescription medicines to drug dealers

A pharmacist from Sutton Coldfield was sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court this week to 12 months imprisonment for selling hundreds of thousands of doses of addictive Class C prescription drugs onto the black market.

The medicines were sold at huge profit during 2016 and 2017. The value of these pills on the black market is estimated at over £1 million.

Balkeet Singh Khaira, 36, worked at his mother’s pharmacy in West Bromwich and made over £59,000 from the Class C drugs,

Following an investigation led by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), investigators and partners from West Midlands Police visited the pharmacy. Records found on the premises showed that of hundreds of thousands of doses of diazepam, nitrazepam, tramadol, zolpidem and zopiclone purchased from wholesalers, only a small percentage had been dispensed against prescription. This left more than 800,000 pills unaccounted for that Khaira later admitted he had sold to drug dealers.

The investigation began following allegations that the pharmacy was selling large quantities of prescription-only medicine without a prescription. When contacted about the investigation by the General Pharmaceutical Council, Khaira impersonated his mother and said he was “shocked and blindsided” by the accusations. He then went on to provide falsified evidence intended to disprove the allegations.

While Khaira has admitted to the charges, he claims that after initially making a voluntary sale to drug dealers he was then forced to sell further medicines after he was threatened outside of his pharmacy. He has refused to provide any information on who these people were or who he sold to.

Khaira was suspended from the General Pharmaceutical Council’s pharmacist register under an interim order.

He had pleaded guilty to five counts of supplying controlled class C drugs at Birmingham Crown Court on 09/02/2021.

His mother was not involved in any of the criminal activity.


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