Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
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Dutch prosecutors are investigating 49 deaths linked to the illegal webshop Funcaps.nl, which sold unlicensed pharmaceuticals and designer drugs.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -Dutch prosecutors on Monday said they were investigating at least 49 deaths that might be linked to an illegal pharmaceuticals webshop that was taken down in August.
In a court case against the owners of the website Funcaps.nl, prosecutors said they saw a strong link between the deaths of 27 mostly young people and the use of products they ordered on Funcaps.
During their investigation, police databases turned up another 22 cases that could also be related to the website, while in recent days parents of four other deceased people reported a possible link, they said.
The owners of the website were arrested in August and are suspected of dealing in medicines without a license and of selling medicines without the necessary prescriptions.
They are also seen to have been dealing in designer drugs, substances that are almost complete copies of illegal drugs with just enough minor tweaks to make them legal.
The suspects' lawyer could not immediately be reached but Dutch media reported that he told the court his clients had always been open about the products they were selling on their website, which also carried warnings about the risks associated with the products.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Franklin Paul)
A court case is a legal dispute brought before a judge or jury for resolution, often involving claims of wrongdoing or the enforcement of rights.
A defense claim is a legal argument presented by a defendant in a court case to counter the allegations made against them.
Designer drugs are synthetic substances that are chemically modified to mimic the effects of illegal drugs while attempting to avoid legal restrictions.
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