Steve first spotted the eye-catching stickers while walking to the shops in Burton upon Trent. Plastered on bins and lamp posts, they featured a shiny, green cannabis leaf with a QR code and the words “get your delivery”.
The former prison officer, who is in his 50s, wanted to try the Class B drug as an alternative to prescribed opiates to ease his pain after breaking his back in three places.
He had only recently moved to the Staffordshire market town and was reluctant to buy off the street. “I didn’t want to just tap up some roadman,” he says.
Using his smartphone camera, he was taken to a slick, colourful site on the open web offering a wide range of cannabis products – from vapes and tinctures to pre-rolled joints, buds and gummies.
Just like legitimate online shops, it promised free delivery to arrive the next day and had glowing reviews on Google and Trustpilot.
Steve (not his real name) went on to order products including vapes and herbal cannabis.
“The first time I was shaking… when the postman came down the path – the package absolutely stank,” he says.
“It’s letterbox shaped so you don’t get a knock. The postman shoves it through your door and that’s it – job done.”
Similar stickers have been reported across the UK, from cities such as Birmingham, Glasgow and London, to smaller towns including Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, and Droitwich, in Worcestershire. There have also been sightings in South Wales.
Some have appeared near schools, universities and police stations.
Hidden gang network
A Sky News investigation has identified three different sticker designs, each of which directs users to separate, but linked, websites (which we are not naming), with their own branding.
Hidden in their source code is a long list of bank accounts and business names which are randomly selected when users make a purchase.
Using publicly available tools, we were able to build a network map of the businesses involved, the people behind them and how they are linked.
All are Lithuanian nationals, mostly registered to addresses in a small area of east London, one of which is linked to an alleged gangster found guilty of kidnap and torture in Lithuania.
Royal Mail tracking details also suggest the operation is based in this area as the packages passed through Romford’s mail centre.
An analysis of Bitcoin wallets – carried out by TRM Labs – shows one of the sites had received around $109,000 (£82,000) by mid-March, although the true income is likely to be far higher as more buyers use regular bank transfers than cryptocurrency.
When we visited a woman who owns two of the houses associated with the bank accounts, she said she had never heard of the website and had no idea a criminal enterprise may be being run from her properties.
She also said three Lithuanian nationals we identified as being connected with the site had left the UK.
Former head of drugs threat and intelligence for the National Crime Agency (NCA), Tony Saggers, says the scale of the operation suggests those behind it have access to wholesale quantities of cannabis, which has probably been grown in the UK.
It also demonstrates the “evolution of online drug markets” from the dark web to open websites, “making them more accessible to the wider population”, he tells Sky News.
Ben (not his real name), a student in his early 20s, scanned a QR code sticker out of “genuine curiosity” after spotting it on a telecoms cabinet near the University of York.
He’d never bought or used drugs before but says he “had a moment of free will and the risk of losing money was minimal so I tried it”.
“Perhaps it’s something to do with the website, it’s like you are buying a professional regulated product so that made me worry less.”
A £10 pre-rolled joint arrived by Royal Mail first class post in “branded packaging and looked clean and professional”.
However, he says he didn’t enjoy smoking it and for his “mental health” hasn’t bought any more.
‘Russian roulette’
Dr Simon Erridge, research director at Curaleaf Clinic, where specialist doctors can legally prescribe medical cannabis, says people like Steve and Ben are playing “Russian roulette”.
The clinic has run a campaign using its own QR code stickers, which direct people to results from its study with Manchester Metropolitan University.
It found 90% of 60 illegal cannabis samples seized by the Greater Manchester and Northumbria police forces were contaminated with mould, yeast, lead, E.coli or salmonella.
An analysis of WEDINOS data, a service that tests drugs sent in by users, found 43% of the 1,635 samples bought as cannabis contained no compounds naturally derived from the plant.
Some 38% contained harmful substances, with 27% containing synthetic chemicals such as spice, a drug which is popular in prisons and that can cause dangerous side effects including cardiac arrest.
The clinic’s research also shows consumer habits are changing.
A survey of 500 cannabis users last year found that while street dealers are still the most common source (45%), just above friends and family (44%), more people are buying online.
Some 7% said they had engaged with QR codes, while the use of websites offering illegal cannabis products almost doubled from 6% in 2022 to around one in ten (11%) in 2024.
The trend is even more pronounced among young adults, with 15% of 18-24-year-olds buying cannabis online.
Sarah (not her real name), a professional in her 40s, says “buying on the streets isn’t an option for me”. She has bought fake cannabis vapes through Instagram in the past.
But she says tests confirmed THC was present in a vape she bought through one of the websites.
It’s illegal to possess and sell products containing THC without a prescription, but Sarah says she’s more worried about losing money if the package gets intercepted.
“I don’t think the police would do much anyway,” she says.
What are police doing about it?
Supply can carry a maximum 14-year prison sentence, with five years for possession, although those caught with a small amount of cannabis are often dealt with by way of a warning or on-the-spot fine.
Police are aware QR code stickers are being used to sell drugs and see it as part of the evolution of how criminals have adopted technology.
They believe they could be used as evidence in future prosecutions, although none of the forces we contacted, where the issue has been reported, were able to point to any arrests.
Derbyshire Police says officers are on the look-out for stickers and will remove them when out on patrol but have not yet been able to identify the people responsible.
Detective Constable Matt Pedrick, from West Mercia Police, another area where the stickers have been reported, says any website advertising the sale of cannabis “is probably based outside the UK”.
“We remove the stickers when we find them, and would advise anyone to steer clear of these websites and to remember that drugs laws apply to all drugs regardless of where they are purchased.”
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Police also believe the stickers aren’t just a matter for their officers and want councils, businesses and transport companies to remove them – and for postal services to ensure they’re not inadvertently helping supply drugs.
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Ex-NCA officer Tony Saggers says the brazen nature of the operation suggests those behind it are “laughing in the face of law enforcement” but doesn’t think it represents decriminalisation by the back door.
He says the combination of an online marketplace and a drug that’s a lower priority for police “make it easier for some people to get away with that for periods of time”.
“But I wouldn’t ever suggest that they’re always going to get away with it because people’s time does come round,” he says.
“And if a site that’s doing well and selling high volumes and increasingly high volumes continues to be successful, they’re more likely to attract attention.”
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We contacted the NCA about our findings.
“Many organised crime groups selling drugs use social media and communication platforms to promote and sell their illicit produce,” it said in a statement.
“The NCA is working with partners across law enforcement and government to tackle drug trafficking.
They suggested we contact the Metropolitan Police and Ofcom, which regulates the postal service.
The Met pointed us to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) because “the website covers the UK”, but the NPCC wouldn’t provide a comment on the record.
