A businessman who stashed large quantities of drugs in rented storage containers off the North Circular as he supplied party drugs to London’s chemsex scene has been jailed for 11 years.
Afshin Alikhani, 43, imported hundreds of litres of GBL into the UK from a Dutch supplier, and used lockers at Big Yellow Self Storage and Safestore at Staples Corner off the A406 near Brent Cross shopping centre to store the bottles.
When put on trial over £500,000 of drugs seized by police, Alikhani - a director of AP Import Export Limited - admitted importing GBL and storing it, but claimed he did not realise it was illegal and believed it was a cleaning product.
He was convicted by a jury of supplying GBL, and jailed at the Old Bailey for 11 years.
The Met Police hailed his conviction and sentence as a landmark moment in the battle against London’s illegal drugs trade, as the first time the harm that can be caused by GBL has been recognised.
It is the same drug – popular on the chemsex scene - used by serial killer Stephen Port to murdered four victims in 2014 and 2015, and in 2022 it was reclassified as a class B illegal substance.
Prosecutor Richard Reynolds told Alikhani’s trial: “This is about the drug trade, particularly the trade in drugs known for chemsex which is normally sex parties that go on.
“The drugs are used to advance the abilities of people to take part in those parties.”
The case against Alikhani emerged after a French border official discovered a box of GBL bottles destined for one of the storage unit in north London in April 2020. More parcels containing bottles of drugs were stopped at Birmingham Airport by Border Force in October of that year.
The court heard 268 litres of GBL were recovered in a police raid on the Big Yellow storage unit, along with more than £30,000 in cash and jelly contaning viagra.
Mr Reynolds said “somewhat unfortunately for the defendant” a further 90 litres of GBL were delivered to the storage unit the day after the police raid, which were instantly seized.
Police were also led to the Safestore locker where another 90 litres of GBL was found, along with a hot plate and induction hob where traces of crystal meth were found.
Alikhani, who had homes in Abbey Road, South Hampstead and Cardiff, was arrested in November 2020, when more bottles of GBL were found in his Honda Civic car along with a package of crystal meth discovered in a tool box in the vehicle.
Alikhani tried to claim he thought a bag of crystal meth was an antihistamine, and claimed the GBL had been imported as a cleaning product.
He also suggested the money - £31,285 in cash – came from a Covid Bounce Back loan provided by the government.
However WhatsApp messages from Alikhani’s iPhone revealed the mechanics of the drugs trade, including arranged drop-offs at King’s Cross station, an Elephant and Castle hotel, and residential addresses in Marylebone, Tooting, Stockwell, and off Oxford Street, together with agreements to pay thousands of pounds.
Retired Met Police detective Mark Wright, giving evidence as a drugs expert, said GBL has the nicknames G, Gina, and Water, and he highlighted one of the messages sent to Alikhani with a request for “G water”.
“They are asking for good quality crystal meth and they are asking for G water”, he said. “It clearly shows that the meeting took place and the handover of drugs was successful.
Mr Wright said the messages come from October 2020, when there was a recognised shortage of illegal drugs on London’s streets after a major law enforcement operation infiltrated the Encrochat messaging system and shutdown a large number of organised crime groups.
He added: “GBL is what I call a horrible drug. If you take it yourself and you are unaware or don’t know the doseage, you are likely to put yourself unconscious or into a coma.
“The reason it is taken within certain groups is it releases any inhibitions, it relaxes them, and as long as it is taken in a controlled and measured way, carefully, there can be no issues.”
Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the Met’s four-year investigation, said: “Alikhani’s conviction is a signal to others that the supply of this drug is taken extremely seriously, and we will pursue those who distribute GBL to Londoners.
“We worked long and hard with multiple different teams and gathered expert advice from specialists to ensure we could prove the seriousness of the importation of this drug and its detrimental impact on victims.
“I am proud of everyone who worked on this case and I am confident that we will continue to see more cases like this, with longer sentences as the dangers of GBL are recognised.”
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Louise Houtmeyers added: “This is a first of its kind case for the Met. Alikhani was not only importing this dangerous drug, but was attempting to distribute a huge volume to victims across London - he intended to profit off an extremely harmful and illegal substance.
“GBL is highly addictive and can be fatal. There is an emerging trend of this drug being used more frequently, particularly by men who have sex with men, and during chemsex.
“This is often deemed a taboo subject, but this conviction is about raising awareness of the impact of GBL and its associated dangers, not criminalising or ostracising people who might be using it.
