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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is this dodgy?

75 replies

Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 09:58

My oh has an older brother who lives in Australia, we are in the UK. His brother has asked him to buy and send him several boxes of Nurofen Plus tablets. Apparently he has been prescribed these tablets by his Doctor in Australia, despite the fact that they are not actually available to purchase in Australia?!

OH did what he asked, then got a message from his brother saying that the parcel of pills had been seized by Australian Customs and he wasn't allowed to have them because the relevant paperwor wasn't in the parcel and asked OH to buy more pills and resend - this time with a prescription printed out and included in the package. He has now got back to him again saying the package is lost and he hasn't got it and wants OH to send ANOTHER package.

This is all sounding increasingly strange to me, I don't understand why an Australian Doctor would prescribe a patient drugs that they can't get in their country. I may be being paranoid, I don't know! I do not trust OH's brother as far as I could throw him, he is known for being something of a con artist and my OH has HFA and ADHD and tends to take people (especially his beloved brothers) at face value and I don't trust his brother not to take advantage of him.

Any ideas?

OP posts:
PinkFootstool · 30/09/2021 12:03

Right, put it this way.

Sending controlled prescription medication into Australia via the post with a fake prescription is trafficking drugs.

Your BIL can get his prescription filled in his own country. He does not need to get anything sent from the UK.

If there is a shortage of this particular medication in Aus, he can see his GP for an alternative medication to be given.

Drugs have already been seized at Customs - BIL details are already known. They will watch for this again.

Prescriptions cannot be filled abroad and just sent to Aus. They won't accept it.

Whatamesssss · 30/09/2021 12:08

Codeine is a prescribed only drug in Australia. I wouldn't be sending any in the post with whatever documents his brother provides.

He can get it himself from a pharmacy or if not available, his doctor can offer a different painkiller.

Original poster
Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 12:14

@Gruffalosgrandma

It's possible that your DH isn't the only person sending him pills.
I have no idea tbh, he and the oldest brother have fallen out and don't have anything to do with each other and I don't think he'd bother asking his cousin because she'd probably be every bit as suspicious about all of this as I am! I believe he does have some friends/old colleagues in London (bankers) and there were a couple from Wales at his wedding who were police officers so probably not asked them!

I refuse to have anything to do with the brother myself, literally everyone is his family fell out with him after his wedding where he behaved monstrously - pushed his oldest brothers 13yr old stepdaughter down a flight of stairs because he was in a bad mood and she made the mistake of asking him if he'd seen her mums sunglasses anywhere. He also squared up to me and intimidated me with his massive physical bulk because I dared to say no to another of his ludicrous demands - I'm 5ft tall!

He and my OH started speaking again after their mothers funeral, he has been luring him in with talk about being able to give him "incredibly lucrative" work doing what he does (something IT related) and has just bought him a £2K laptop to do this supposed work on, yet so far no training or work has happened its just been demand after demand from him about these pills. I've tried to stay out of it all but I just can't now, this is all kinds of wrong.

OP posts:
Original poster
Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 12:17

Thank you so much for all of the replies, I knew I wasn't being paranoid! My OH will absolutely not be sending any more I'll make sure of that!

OP posts:
milkyaqua · 30/09/2021 12:18

Dodgy AF. I'd send him this, not the pills.

www.na.org.au/multi/am-i-an-addict/

Original poster
Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 12:25

[quote milkyaqua]Dodgy AF. I'd send him this, not the pills.

www.na.org.au/multi/am-i-an-addict/[/quote]
I wont be sending him the pills or anything else, I couldn't care less if he has a problem or if it kills him, I just don't want my family in any way involved in his dodgy dealings!

OP posts:
AwaAnBileYerHeid · 30/09/2021 12:25

Does he mean he is usually prescribed them but they are so expensive for a prescription that it's cheaper to buy in the UK and get them sent over? Also I know some seemingly innocent medications contain a substance (i can't remember the name) that can be used in illegal narcotic production. Is that what you're thinking?

milkyaqua · 30/09/2021 12:26

I couldn't care less if he has a problem or if it kills him

Oh.

MessedOfTimes · 30/09/2021 12:26

Aussie here. Have to chime in and confirm that, yes, medications containing codeine are “prescription only” (since around 2018, I believe). That said, if he has a prescription, he’d have no trouble obtaining the drug from a domestic pharmacy. So, whichever way you spin it, it’s dodgy behaviour. You’re definitely not being unreasonable to be suspicious. X

HalfShrunkMoreToGo · 30/09/2021 12:27

I would suspect that the prescription doesn't allow him the number of pills he wants. Usually a prescription will say how many and how often they can be dispensed, if he wants more than that allowance then he won't be able to use the prescription in Aus to get them.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 30/09/2021 12:29

@milkyaqua

I couldn't care less if he has a problem or if it kills him

Oh.

To be fair to OP, you can see why she has no feelings for him at all!

It's not like she is actively seeking his death!

milkyaqua · 30/09/2021 12:33

It's not like she is actively seeking his death!

I linked to Narcotics Anonymous. She said, in response, what she said.
I am shocked. YMMV.

Lifeisforalimitedperiodonly · 30/09/2021 12:38

@PinkFootstool

Right, put it this way.

Sending controlled prescription medication into Australia via the post with a fake prescription is trafficking drugs.

Your BIL can get his prescription filled in his own country. He does not need to get anything sent from the UK.

If there is a shortage of this particular medication in Aus, he can see his GP for an alternative medication to be given.

Drugs have already been seized at Customs - BIL details are already known. They will watch for this again.

Prescriptions cannot be filled abroad and just sent to Aus. They won't accept it.

Pink Footstool is spot on. My friend works in Customs.

He's either selling them, or else he is addicted and his GP won't allow him a larger quantity.

If he's emailed the prescription he is clearly getting it filled there anyway - just by emailing your partner he is hoping for extra i.e. using it twice.

It's drug trafficking. Your partner needs to say NO and who cares what the brother says.

Spindrifting · 30/09/2021 12:48

@milkyaqua

It's not like she is actively seeking his death!

I linked to Narcotics Anonymous. She said, in response, what she said.
I am shocked. YMMV.

But surely it's not that hard to understand that the OP is not worried about the possible addiction issues of a thug she has every reason to thoroughly dislike, and who lives on the other side of the world, and is more concerned about her DH's gullibility letting him in for trouble on the grounds of supplying controlled drugs?
milkyaqua · 30/09/2021 13:00

I would have thought sending him that link would make it clear she saw through his lies, and halt his attempts to manipulate his brother - who may also actually give a shit if his troubled younger brother sinks into addiction and dies.

Original poster
Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 13:00

You have all been so helpful, thank you. I have spoken to OH and showed him these replies and he gets it finally and is now in a complete panic he might already be in trouble. This is why I can't stand his brother, he brings nothing but trouble.

OP posts:
milkyaqua · 30/09/2021 13:01

Sorry, it's his older brother.

PinkFootstool · 30/09/2021 13:11

@Picklypickles tell him not to fret. Two smallish (?) packages of prescription meds are not going to lead to an international investigation. Adding in a dodgy prescription might start to change that bit only if he keeps trying to send them.

In the grand scheme of trafficking it's low level and right now he's not trying terribly hard - such as changing packaging, trying to secrete pills in another way etc - so it's not a very sophisticated crime they will care about. They will be watching for the recipient's address in future though, so expect anything he sends to his brother to be scrutinised.

I'm betting once the BIL realises the potential source of drugs is gone, he'll ask for the laptop to be returned and the job offer claims will dry up.

Original poster
Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 13:12

The brother is on the phone to him now trying to convince him, demanding to speak to me! I've refused, I wrote down the bulletpoints for my OH to question what's going on and he's trying to befuddle him with lots of big words. I've loudly and clearly outright refused to speak to him because I refuse to be manipulated by him.

OP posts:
PinkFootstool · 30/09/2021 13:33

Speak to him.

Tell him to piss off and buy his drugs from a drug dealer.

Hang up phone.

Bigoldhag · 30/09/2021 13:35

Did the laptop come from him or direct from supplier? If he’s that dodgy I would not use a laptop that could be tampered with/spyware etc from him.

Original poster
Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 13:54

It came from a supplier, its not been used yet because he's more interested in getting OH to get him these pills than he is doing any training or work. They've been talking a long time, from what I could gather before I walked off he's saying he's already spoken to someone at the Australian Department of Health and has an e-mail to say he is allowed to have it sent, so I have said that's great we can email the same person and confirm that its fine for my OH to do that then? He then asked again to speak to me so he could explain, I again refused as I know he will try to deliberately confuse me with his superior vocabulary and official sounding stuff that I wouldn't know whether he was telling the truth or not!!

Its ridiculous, the man is on the other side of the world and yet I am sat here physically shaking with the stress he causes. I can also hear my OH moaning to him about how me and my dad are "kicking his ass" about this wtf. So I reckon he'll be off the phone fully placated and back out to buy more Nurofen any minute now then.

OP posts:
HarrietsChariot · 30/09/2021 14:14

I'd have thought he'd be better off buying them online himself, there are plenty of online pharmacies that sell prescription medicines without prescription.

It does sound rather dodgy, especially given that it's Nurofen Plus as opposed to co-codamol. It's very easy to separate the codeine element from the ibuprofen and binding agents in Nurofen Plus, to get pure(ish) Codeine. With co-codamol you can't extract the codeine, not without specialist equipment anyway.

waybill · 30/09/2021 14:22

Does your oh realise that he could get in really serious trouble with customs and the police for drug trafficking?

He needs to stop doing this immediately.

Original poster
Picklypickles · 30/09/2021 14:32

[quote PinkFootstool]@Picklypickles tell him not to fret. Two smallish (?) packages of prescription meds are not going to lead to an international investigation. Adding in a dodgy prescription might start to change that bit only if he keeps trying to send them.

In the grand scheme of trafficking it's low level and right now he's not trying terribly hard - such as changing packaging, trying to secrete pills in another way etc - so it's not a very sophisticated crime they will care about. They will be watching for the recipient's address in future though, so expect anything he sends to his brother to be scrutinised.

I'm betting once the BIL realises the potential source of drugs is gone, he'll ask for the laptop to be returned and the job offer claims will dry up.[/quote]
Thank you, that is a bit reassuring! I think exactly the same about the laptop and the job offer, I was skeptical right from the get go but was accused by my OH of being unsupportive. He's been so bloody excited at the prospect of getting rich working for his brother and being able to support me and the children, he's been out of work for a decade due to struggling to hold down a job because of his Austism and social difficulties, impulsive behaviour etc and we've been skint and struggling for years. He always believes everything his asshole family tell him, despite the fact that since I've known him (15yrs) they've done nothing positive for him, brought nothing but stress and trouble. Now I'm getting it in the neck for trying to protect him from getting into serious trouble.

OP posts: