Eighteen is the number Dutch prosecutors are willing to defend. They once looked at 58 deaths. Before that, in 2025, the figure was 27.
The catch is what happened to the rest of the 58. In a Zwolle courtroom on Thursday, the public prosecution department (OM) said it can prove that 18 people died after taking substances bought from the online shop Funcaps. For the remaining deaths it had been investigating, it said, there was not enough hard evidence. Another four are still being examined, the OM told the preliminary hearing.
The product
Funcaps sold bromazolam, a sedative, O-DSMT, an opioid painkiller, and 2F-ketamine, an anaesthetic. No package inserts came with them, and no usage instructions. Prosecutors say the shop leaned on discount deals and sample packs to move stock.
The sellers
Jord van W, 31, and Stefan P, 30, are Dutch. They started selling fake pills in Belgium during the pandemic. Prosecutors say the two were unclear about Belgian law and about what they were selling, and that they left the health risks to buyers.
Belgian courts have already ruled. An appeal court gave them prison terms of up to three years, with 18 months unconditional, for illegally trading in medicines and drugs, plus fines and the seizure of suspected proceeds. Belgium’s Court of Cassation now has the case.
The Dutch proceedings are a separate track. Funcaps is not the only fake-medicine or designer-drug seller drawing scrutiny in the Netherlands, and part of that trade has recently been traced to chemicals imported from India.
