First 27. Then 58. Now 18. That is how the Dutch prosecution service’s count of deaths tied to the online drugs shop Funcaps has moved since 2025, and the last figure is the one prosecutors say they can actually prove.
The public prosecution department (OM) gave the number to a court in Zwolle on Thursday, at a preliminary hearing. Four more deaths are still under examination. For the rest of the 58 it had been investigating, the OM said it had not found enough hard evidence.
What Funcaps sold
The shop offered bromazolam, a sedative, O-DSMT, an opioid painkiller, and 2F-ketamine, an anaesthetic. Prosecutors say the products shipped without package inserts or usage instructions, while discount deals and sample packs pushed sales.
The two owners
The site’s Dutch owners are Jord van W, 31, and Stefan P, 30. They began selling fake pills in Belgium during the pandemic. According to prosecutors, they were vague on Belgian law and on what exactly they were selling, and they left the health risks to customers.
Belgium has already dealt with them once. An appeal court there sentenced the pair to up to three years in prison, 18 months of it unconditional, for illegally trading in medicines and drugs. Fines were added, and suspected proceeds were seized. That matter has now moved up to Belgium’s Court of Cassation.
The Dutch case began growing when the men first appeared in court in 2025. At that point prosecutors put the possible death toll at 27.
Dutch authorities are looking at several fake-medicine and designer-drug sellers besides Funcaps. Part of that trade has recently been traced to chemicals imported from India.
Sources
- Prosecutors say 18 deaths linked to Funcaps drugs website
- Prosecutors say 18 deaths linked to Funcaps drugs website – DutchNews.nl
