Man who manufactured 38,500 ecstasy tablets has been jailed

Jian Huang, aged 44, was sentenced to 9 years at Manchester Minshull Street Court yesterday (Monday 23 January 2024) after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to possession with intent to supply class A drugs. 

Approximately 38,500 ecstasy tablets were seized by officers. A property was being used as a makeshift 'lab', with the drug in various stages of preparation.

Some were suspended in liquid, some drying and thousands in tablets. It is believed they were being prepped for sale, likely bound for Parklife Festival due to when they were recovered. 

On Wednesday 19 April 2023, PC's attended a concern for welfare at an address on Arran Street, Moston, which had been reported via email to GMP anonymously. It was reported that an argument could be heard coming from inside and a women and children could be heard shouting. 

Police attended and despite such little information available to them at the scene, officers conducted several house-to-house enquiries.

Huang was acting extremely evasive in regards to questions relating to his female partner and children, raising concerns for their welfare.

Upstairs bedrooms inside the address were found padlocked, but when Huang said he had no keys to these rooms, entry was forced to the internal bedroom doors, and an extremely large amount of class A drugs, a tablet production machine and associated equipment was located inside the address.

Detective Constable Heather Gore, of COM North’s Challenger organised crime team, said: "This case is a great example of how much we rely on the public to report crime to us - trust your instincts and we will root out criminality together. 

"Response officers did an outstanding job in bringing Huang to justice. It looked like Huang was preparing to sell these drugs which would have likely ended up at festivals such as Parklife, so seizing such a huge quantity was a significant result.

"The address appeared to be a laboratory for converting ecstasy from its liquid form, to a pressed tablet.

"There was approximately 38,500 ecstasy tablets, 7kgs of unpressed ecstasy, and 10 litres containing methylamphetamine. The tablets alone have a street value of approximately £385,000."

Challenger is Greater Manchester’s partnership response to tackling serious and organised crime.

We work together to relentlessly pursue and disrupt serious and organised crime groups as well as reduce the risks to vulnerable people and stop them from becoming victims.

This type of criminality includes county lines, exploitation of young children and vulnerable adults, modern slavery, immigration and economic crime and the use of firearms.

Our vision is to enable individuals and communities to be free from the harm caused by serious and organised crime.

There are several ways to report a crime:

Information can be reported anonymously via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, by contacting GMP via 101 or emailing the county lines team. In an emergency, or if you are in danger, always dial 999.