• Ben Brown, 21, mixed vodka with party drug mephedrone and sold it in bottles labelled ‘Liquid Love’
  • Lived a party lifestyle selling it to Blackpool clubbers
  • Locked up after police raided his luxury flat in Lytham St Annes

By
Steve Robson


PUBLISHED:

04:50 EST, 30 November 2012


|

UPDATED:

11:07 EST, 30 November 2012

Lavish: Drug dealer Ben Brown, 21, sold thousands of bottles of his DIY drug 'liquid Love' to revellers on the Blackpool club scene to fund his lavish lifestyle

Lavish: Drug dealer Ben Brown, 21, sold thousands of bottles of his DIY drug ‘liquid Love’ to revellers on the Blackpool club scene to fund his lavish lifestyle

A party-loving bodybuilder has been jailed after selling thousands of bottles of a party drug labelled ‘Liquid Love’ to clubbers to fund his lavish lifestyle.

Ben Brown, 21, turned his luxury flat in Lytham St Annes into a drugs den where he mixed class B drug mephedrone with water, blue colouring and vodka to sell in 10 millilitre bottles.

A fixture on the Blackpool club scene, the amateur boxer would then target stag and hen parties falsely claiming it was ‘Ten Ten Liquid Love’ – a lethal combination of the drugs ecstasy and GHB sold in Holland.

A landau driver by day, Brown
would take holidaymakers up and down Blackpool sea front in his horse
drawn carriage.

But by night he was a drug dealer selling mini bottles of his DIY drug to clubbers in the Lancashire seaside resort.

On his Facebook profile Brown proudly boasted of living for the weekends and going to the gym and on sunbeds.

He posted endless snaps of himself posing shirtless next to women in night clubs.

Others showed him on a day at the races and standing in front of £170,000 Bentley Turbo car.

Lancashire Police said Brown had been ‘living a good lifestyle ‘ before they swooped on his plush two-bedroom flat.

Officers found designer clothing plus several
cardboard boxes containing 10,000 of his mini bottles.

Up to 1,100 of them were made up with
the drug, labelled and ready to hit the resort’s streets. A further
9,000 empty bottles were also found ready to be filled and sold.

Stash: Police found 10,000 bottles ready to be filled with Ben Brown's lethal mix of mephedrone vodka, water and blue colouring at his luxury flat in Lytham St Annes

Stash: Police found 10,000 bottles ready to be filled with Ben Brown’s lethal mix of mephedrone vodka, water and blue colouring at his luxury flat in Lytham St Annes

Ladies man: Ben Brown posted a series of snaps on Facebook posing shirtless with young women in Balckpool nightclubs where he was dealing his DIY drug 'Liquid Love'
Jailed: Ben Brown, 21, was locked up for three years after pleading guilty to drugs charges

Busted: Ben Brown, 21, was a fixture on the Blackpool clubbing scene selling his DIY drug ‘Liquid Love’ before police raided his flat and smashed his operation

There was also a large decanting container
with a tap on the end in one of the bedrooms and bottles of the mix in
the kitchen.

When
the tamper proof sealed bottles were tested they were found to contain
the drug mephedrone – more commonly known as ‘bubble’ – and vodka.

Brown
pleaded guilty to possession of a Class B drug with intent to supply and
was jailed for three years at Preston Crown Court in Lancashire.

Detective Chris Gallagher of Blackpool CID said: ‘You couldn’t hide what was there when we executed the warrant.

Party lifestyle: Aspiring ladies' man Ben Brown, 21, poses with a series of young women on his Facebook profile. He was selling revellers bottles of a DIY drug called 'Liquid Love'

Party lifestyle: Aspiring ladies’ man Ben Brown, 21, poses with a series of young women on his Facebook profile. He was selling revellers bottles of a DIY drug called ‘Liquid Love’

Deadly: Police found 10,000 bottles ready to be labelled 'Ten Ten Liquid Love'
Lavish: Other snaps were posted by drug dealer Brown posing on a day at the races in designer clothing

Crude: Police found 10,000 mini bottles and labels for ‘Ten Ten Liquid Love’ when they raided Ben Brown’s flat in Lytham St Annes. Right, he poses with a friend for a day at the races

Ladies man: Ben Brown, who was selling thousands of bottles of his DIY drug for up to £20 a time, poses in front of a Bentley sports car

Ladies man: Ben Brown, who was selling thousands of bottles of his DIY drug for up to £20 a time, poses in front of a Bentley sports car

‘This is the first case of its kind that we have come across in Lancashire and so it is hard to put a value on the drugs that Brown was selling, but we estimate he was making between £5 – £20 a bottle.’

He added that the drug was a ‘dangerous mix’ for users.

DC Gallagher added: ‘It was a crude preparation of the drug and a user wouldn’t know what was in it.

Busted: Police found the class B drug mephadrone when they raided Ben Brown's flat
Raving: Ben Brown, 21, was a fixture on the Blackpool club scene

Deadly: Police found the class B drug mephedrone and decantering equipment when they raided Ben Brown’s luxury two-bed flat in Lytham St Annes last year

‘It was not being prepared in controlled conditions. Luckily we seized the best part of it before he had chance to profit.

‘Brown had made his own crude mix of ‘liquid love’ and although a user can never be sure exactly what they are taking, they were being misled into thinking they were buying one thing but in fact were being given something entirely different.

‘This is incredibly dangerous and the risks to people’s safety that were created by Brown and his business are reflected in the severity of the sentence he has been given.’

The comments below have not been moderated.

Will the Government introduce a minimum price for these drugs as they are for wine and beer?

Hello Oz
,

Bromley,
30/11/2012 19:01

Report abuse

More fool you Demi London! I hope this creep serves the full three years and has all his belongings confiscated to pay for his time in Jail!

Concerned
,

Plymouth,
30/11/2012 18:42

Report abuse

Only way you could get the girls wasn’t it? Drug them first

dodgeball
,

Coventry, United Kingdom,
30/11/2012 18:28

Report abuse

Ladies man? Hmmm. If you say so…. He’s going to me a mans man where he’s going.

Danger Mouse
,

Manchester UK,
30/11/2012 17:44

Report abuse

dont mean this in a bad way but why is there always a correlation between ugly men and crime/chavs…..

pussiemagnet
,

doncaster,
30/11/2012 17:27

Report abuse

Time to man up, bend over and pick the soap up! Oooooooaaaaaaa

– jimlad, consett, 30/11/2012 14:48

I laugh at a lot of the nasty comments, but this just isn’t remotely a funny subject. You’re sick

– jezzie, Brighton, 30/11/12 4:16 PM

I laughed.

Tinker Bell
,

Never Never Land,
30/11/2012 17:00

Report abuse

I thought we were supposed to encourage private enterprise.He should of been on The Apprentice,better still Dragons Den, ” I’ll tell you where I am,I’m Right-Out of it”.

TravellingBoy
,

wherever I lay my hat, United Kingdom,
30/11/2012 16:33

Report abuse

Ladies man? He’s got a face like a melted welly.

– Jock Tamson, Glasgow, 30/11/2012 12:51 —– Fair point Jock, but I would say that there are a lot of desperate members of the opposite sex out there.

Barry
,

Bude,
30/11/2012 16:24

Report abuse

Crimson chin. That is all.

Mollyb
,

Middlesbrough, United Kingdom,
30/11/2012 16:20

Report abuse

I would of bought it…

– Demi, London, 30/11/2012 13:58

‘Would HAVE bought it’, maybe if you had listened in school, you would be more accomplished at English and also know that concoctions like the one this degenerate made will kill someone, how would you feel if that someone had been a member if your family? Probably wouldn’t OF taken it then!

tinker
,

Cheltenham,
30/11/2012 16:18

Report abuse

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.