The online drug trade behind QR code stickers plastered on streets across the UK
Steve first spotted the eye-catching stickers while walking to the shops in Burton upon Trent. Plastered on bins and lamp posts, they featured a shiny, green cannabis leaf with a QR code and the words “get your delivery”.
The former prison officer, who is in his 50s, wanted to try the Class B drug as an alternative to prescribed opiates to ease his pain after breaking his back in three places.
He had only recently moved to the Staffordshire market town and was reluctant to buy off the street. “I didn’t want to just tap up some roadman,” he says.
Using his smartphone camera, he was taken to a slick, colourful site on the open web offering a wide range of cannabis products – from vapes and tinctures to pre-rolled joints, buds and gummies.
Just like legitimate online shops, it promised free delivery to arrive the next day and had glowing reviews on Google and Trustpilot.
Steve (not his real name) went on to order products including vapes and herbal cannabis.
“The first time I was shaking… when the postman came down the path – the package absolutely stank,” he says.
“It’s letterbox shaped so you don’t get a knock. The postman shoves it through your door and that’s it – job done.”
(Watch a video demonstration of how the QR codes work)
Similar stickers have been reported across the UK, from cities such as Birmingham, Glasgow and London, to smaller towns including Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, and Droitwich, in Worcestershire. There have also been sightings in South Wales.
Some have appeared near schools, universities and police stations.
Hidden gang network
A Sky News investigation has identified three different sticker designs, each of which directs users to separate, but linked, websites (which we are not naming), with their own branding.
Hidden in their source code is a long list of bank accounts and business names which are randomly selected when users make a purchase.
One of the stickers on a litter bin
Using publicly available tools, we were able to build a network map of the businesses involved, the people behind them and how they are linked.
All are Lithuanian nationals, mostly registered to addresses in a small area of east London, one of which is linked to an alleged gangster found guilty of kidnap and torture in Lithuania.
Royal Mail tracking details also suggest the operation is based in this area as the packages passed through Romford’s mail centre.
An analysis of Bitcoin wallets – carried out by TRM Labs – shows one of the sites had received around $109,000 (£82,000) by mid-March, although the true income is likely to be far higher as more buyers use regular bank transfers than cryptocurrency.
When we visited a woman who owns two of the houses associated with the bank accounts, she said she had never heard of the website and had no idea a criminal enterprise may be being run from her properties.
She also said three Lithuanian nationals we identified as being connected with the site had left the UK.
Former NCA head of drugs Tony Saggers says it shows the ‘evolution of online drug markets’
Former head of drugs threat and intelligence for the National Crime Agency (NCA), Tony Saggers, says the scale of the operation suggests those behind it have access to wholesale quantities of cannabis, which has probably been grown in the UK.
It also demonstrates the “evolution of online drug markets” from the dark web to open websites, “making them more accessible to the wider population”, he tells Sky News.
Ben (not his real name), a student in his early 20s, scanned a QR code sticker out of “genuine curiosity” after spotting it on a telecoms cabinet near the University of York.
He’d never bought or used drugs before but says he “had a moment of free will and the risk of losing money was minimal so I tried it”.
“Perhaps it’s something to do with the website, it’s like you are buying a professional regulated product so that made me worry less.”
A £10 pre-rolled joint arrived by Royal Mail first class post in “branded packaging and looked clean and professional”.
However, he says he didn’t enjoy smoking it and for his “mental health” hasn’t bought any more.
A £10 pre-rolled joint arrived by first-class post
‘Russian roulette’
Dr Simon Erridge, research director at Curaleaf Clinic, where specialist doctors can legally prescribe medical cannabis, says people like Steve and Ben are playing “Russian roulette”.
The clinic has run a campaign using its own QR code stickers, which direct people to results from its study with Manchester Metropolitan University.
It found 90% of 60 illegal cannabis samples seized by the Greater Manchester and Northumbria police forces were contaminated with mould, yeast, lead, E.coli or salmonella.
An analysis of WEDINOS data, a service that tests drugs sent in by users, found 43% of the 1,635 samples bought as cannabis contained no compounds naturally derived from the plant.
Some 38% contained harmful substances, with 27% containing synthetic chemicals such as spice, a drug which is popular in prisons and that can cause dangerous side effects including cardiac arrest.
The clinic’s research also shows consumer habits are changing.
A survey of 500 cannabis users last year found that while street dealers are still the most common source (45%), just above friends and family (44%), more people are buying online.
A clinic is running its own QR campaign to inform people about the risks. Pic: CuraLeaf Clinic/Third City PR
Some 7% said they had engaged with QR codes, while the use of websites offering illegal cannabis products almost doubled from 6% in 2022 to around one in ten (11%) in 2024.
The trend is even more pronounced among young adults, with 15% of 18-24-year-olds buying cannabis online.
Sarah (not her real name), a professional in her 40s, says “buying on the streets isn’t an option for me”. She has bought fake cannabis vapes through Instagram in the past.
But she says tests confirmed THC was present in a vape she bought through one of the websites.
It’s illegal to possess and sell products containing THC without a prescription, but Sarah says she’s more worried about losing money if the package gets intercepted.
“I don’t think the police would do much anyway,” she says.
What are police doing about it?
Supply can carry a maximum 14-year prison sentence, with five years for possession, although those caught with a small amount of cannabis are often dealt with by way of a warning or on-the-spot fine.
Police are aware QR code stickers are being used to sell drugs and see it as part of the evolution of how criminals have adopted technology.
They believe they could be used as evidence in future prosecutions, although none of the forces we contacted, where the issue has been reported, were able to point to any arrests.
Derbyshire Police says officers are on the look-out for stickers and will remove them when out on patrol but have not yet been able to identify the people responsible.
Detective Constable Matt Pedrick, from West Mercia Police, another area where the stickers have been reported, says any website advertising the sale of cannabis “is probably based outside the UK”.
“We remove the stickers when we find them, and would advise anyone to steer clear of these websites and to remember that drugs laws apply to all drugs regardless of where they are purchased.”
Police also believe the stickers aren’t just a matter for their officers and want councils, businesses and transport companies to remove them – and for postal services to ensure they’re not inadvertently helping supply drugs.
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Ex-NCA officer Tony Saggers says the brazen nature of the operation suggests those behind it are “laughing in the face of law enforcement” but doesn’t think it represents decriminalisation by the back door.
He says the combination of an online marketplace and a drug that’s a lower priority for police “make it easier for some people to get away with that for periods of time”.
“But I wouldn’t ever suggest that they’re always going to get away with it because people’s time does come round,” he says.
“And if a site that’s doing well and selling high volumes and increasingly high volumes continues to be successful, they’re more likely to attract attention.”
We contacted the NCA about our findings.
“Many organised crime groups selling drugs use social media and communication platforms to promote and sell their illicit produce,” it said in a statement.
“The NCA is working with partners across law enforcement and government to tackle drug trafficking.”
It suggested we contact the Metropolitan Police and Ofcom, which regulates the postal service.
The Met pointed us to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) because “the website covers the UK”, but the NPCC would not provide a comment on the record.
A man who has spent 38 years in prison for murder has had his conviction quashed – but insisted he is “not angry” or “bitter”.
The Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Peter Sullivan ends what’s thought to be the longest-running miscarriage of justice in British history.
He was found guilty of the 1986 murder of 21-year-old Diane Sindall, who had been beaten, raped and left in an alleyway in Bebington, Merseyside.
Diane Sindall was murdered in 1986. Pic: Merseyside Police/PA Wire
Mr Sullivan – who was jailed in 1987 – had always maintained his innocence and first tried to challenge his conviction in 2016, but the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) declined to refer the case, and he lost his own appeal bid in 2019.
Two years later, he again asked the CCRC to refer his case and new tests, ordered by the commission, revealed Mr Sullivan’s DNA was not present on samples preserved at the time.
At a hearing on Tuesday, lawyers for Mr Sullivan told the Court of Appeal in London that the new evidence showed that Ms Sindall’s killer “was not the defendant”.
Mr Sullivan attended the hearing via video link from HMP Wakefield, listening to his conviction being quashed with his head down and arms folded before appearing to weep and putting his hand to his mouth.
A relative in court also wept as the judgment was read out.
‘The truth shall set you free’
In a statement following the ruling, Mr Sullivan – now 68 – said: “I lost my liberty four decades ago over a crime I did not commit.
“What happened to me was very wrong, but does not detract that what happened… was a heinous and most terrible loss of life.”
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Peter Sullivan case explained
He added: “It is said the truth shall set you free. It is unfortunate that it does not give a timescale as we advance towards resolving the wrongs done to me.
“I am not angry, I am not bitter.
“I am simply anxious to return to my loved ones and family as I’ve got to make the most of what is left of the existence I am granted in this world.”
Outside court, Mr Sullivan’s sister Kim Smith said she was “ecstatic” at seeing her brother’s conviction quashed.
She told reporters: “We lost Peter for 39 years and at the end of the day, it’s not just us; Peter hasn’t won, and neither has the Sindall family. They’ve lost their daughter, they are not going to get her back.
“We’ve got Peter back and now we’ve got to try and build a life around him again. We feel sorry for the Sindalls and it’s such a shame this has had to happen in the first place.”
Mr Sullivan’s sister Kim Smith said she was ‘ecstatic’ after the ruling. Pic: PA
Barristers for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the DNA evidence was “sufficient fundamentally to cast doubt on the safety of the conviction” and that there was “no credible basis on which the appeal can be opposed”.
Lord Justice Holroyde, sitting with Mr Justice Goss and Mr Justice Bryan, said in light of the new DNA evidence “it is impossible to regard the appellant’s conviction as safe” as he quashed the conviction.
Hunt for DNA match
Merseyside Police has confirmed detectives are now “carrying out an extensive investigation in a bid to identify who the new DNA profile belongs to, as to date there is no match on the national DNA database”.
Detectives are also contacting individuals identified in the original investigation to request voluntary DNA samples.
That initial investigation was the largest in the force’s history and, for many officers, the “frenzied” nature of the attack made it the worst case they had ever encountered.
Ms Sindall, who was engaged to be married, had just left her shift as a part-time barmaid at a pub in Bebington when her small blue van ran out of petrol.
Diane Sindall was killed after finishing her shift as a barmaid
She was walking to an all-night garage when she was attacked.
Mr Sullivan, who was 29 at the time and described as a loner, initially denied the attack but later signed a confession.
Questions have since been raised about whether he had proper legal representation during police interviews. Evidence related to bite marks on Ms Sindall’s body, considered crucial at the trial, has also since been called into question.
At the time of Mr Sullivan’s trial in 1987, DNA technology was not available and subsequent requests for new tests had been refused.
‘Nobody felt safe’
On the grass verge close to where Ms Sindall’s body was found, a memorial stone has been placed in memory of her and “and all of our sisters who have been raped and murdered”.
Her murder sent a chill through the community and led to the creation of the Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre on Merseyside. “Nobody felt safe, it was a very scary time,” said the centre’s Jo Wood.
A memorial to Ms Sindall on a grass verge near where her body was found
She says the uncertainty has resurfaced. “There’s someone out who killed Diane Sindall,” said solicitor Ms Myatt.
“The biggest fear we’ve got is of the unknown and now we’ve got an unknown. We don’t know who it might be. Who knows who this person is? Are we going to encounter him?
“We might have encountered him, we don’t know, we just know that he’s out there.”
Ms Sindall’s family told Sky News they did not want to comment on the case.
Mel John, landlord of the pub where Ms Sindall worked on the night of her death, said: “I’m glad he’s being released if he’s innocent. It has been a long time.”
Mr Sullivan is also aware, his solicitor says, of the impact on Ms Sindall’s family.
“We are very sensitive and respectful to the fact that there is a victim, Diane Sindall and her family, that will be affected by this process,” the solicitor said.
Tory MP Patrick Spencer has been charged with two counts of sexual assault at London’s Groucho Club.
The charges follow two alleged incidents involving two different women at the private members’ club, in Soho, in August 2023, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
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Mr Spencer – who is the Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich – will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday 16 June.
A Conservative Party spokesman said Mr Spencer, 37, has been suspended by the Tories and had the whip withdrawn.
The Groucho Club in Soho, London. Pic: PA
The Metropolitan Police said he was charged after attending a voluntary interview at a London police station on 13 March this year.
Frank Ferguson, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said: “Following a review of the evidence provided by the Metropolitan Police Service, we have authorised two counts of sexual assault against Patrick Spencer MP.
“The charges follow two alleged incidents involving two separate women at the Groucho Club in central London in August 2023.
“The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against this defendant are now active and that he has the right to a fair trial.
“It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.”
Mr Spencer was first elected to Parliament last year with a majority of 4,290.
It is understood he was asked not to attend the parliamentary estate by the Tory chief whip while police enquiries were ongoing.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “The Conservative Party believes in integrity and high standards. We have taken immediate action.
“Patrick Spencer MP has been suspended from the Conservative Party, and the whip withdrawn, with immediate effect.
“The Conservative Party cannot comment further on an ongoing legal case.”
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The Groucho Club, in Dean Street, opened in 1985 and became a renowned meeting place for A-list celebrities and others, including actors, comedians and media executives.
The club was named after the comedian and actor Groucho Marx, who reportedly once said he would refuse to join any club that would have him as a member.
It was originally set up as a more relaxed alternative to traditional gentlemen’s clubs, according to the venue’s website, which adds that members should be in the creative industry “and share the club’s maverick spirit”.
Before becoming an MP, Mr Spencer worked in finance for private equity firm IPGL, a company chaired by his father, former Conservative Party treasurer Lord Michael Spencer.
He later took a job at the Centre for Social Justice think thank before becoming a senior adviser at the Department for Education.
He made his maiden speech in the Commons in July last year during a debate on the MPs’ code of conduct relating to second jobs, during which he said the “most important thing to the people across my constituency” was “restoring a sense of moral probity and public spiritedness to our political system”.
Sky News has contacted Mr Spencer for comment.
A 21-year-old man has been arrested over a series of arson attacks, police have said, after a fire at a house owned by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, according to the Metropolitan Police.
He remains in custody.
Emergency services were called to fires at the doors of two homes in north London within 24 hours of each other – one just after 1.35am on Monday in Kentish Town and the other on Sunday in Islington. Both properties are linked to Sir Keir.
Police are investigating links to several fires, which they are treating as suspicious. Pic: LNP
Detectives were also checking a vehicle fire last Thursday on the same street as the Kentish Town property to see whether it is connected.
Part of the area was cordoned off as police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) investigators examined the scene.
Neighbours described hearing a loud bang and said police officers were looking for a projectile.
Emergency services were deployed to the scene in Kentish Town, north London, on Monday. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
The prime minister is understood to still own the home, which was damaged by fire on Monday, but nobody was hurt. Pictures showed scorching at the entrance to the property.
Sir Keir used to live there before he and his family moved into 10 Downing Street after Labour won last year’s general election. It is believed the property is being rented out.
In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to the prime minister.
Counter-terror police are leading the investigation. Pic: LNP
In a statement, police said: “As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire.
“Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it. All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”
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The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I can only say that the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So I can’t comment any further.”
Kemi Badenoch has condemned the suspected arson attacks.
Writing on X, the Conservative leader said: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the prime minister and his family. No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service.
“It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Tuesday: “It’s important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected.
“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”
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