Dark web drug supplier Robert Poleszak admitted nitazene trafficking and making over 5,000 Category A child abuse images.
A dark web drug supplier linked to at least two fatal nitazene overdoses in the UK has admitted multiple serious offences, including large-scale drug trafficking and making thousands of indecent images of children.
Robert Poleszak, 45, a Polish national living on Elgar Road in Reading, appeared at Reading Crown Court on May 28, 2026, where he pleaded guilty to a wide range of criminal charges following an investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Poleszak admitted conspiring to supply nitazenes, cocaine, crack cocaine, and methylamphetamine, as well as making 5,134 Category A indecent images of children, the most serious category of child sexual abuse material. He also admitted possessing extreme pornographic images and multiple additional drugs offences.
Investigators said Poleszak operated as a dark web drug vendor, selling substances including counterfeit Oxycodone tablets that secretly contained Isotonitazene, a synthetic opioid estimated to be around 1,000 times more powerful than morphine.
According to the NCA, Poleszak completed more than 100 sales of the fake Oxycodone pills through darknet marketplaces. Customers frequently left reviews warning that users had overdosed or required hospital treatment after taking the drugs.
Nitazenes have been linked to more than 1,000 drug-related deaths in the United Kingdom since June 2023. Authorities said the synthetic opioids are commonly manufactured in overseas laboratories, including in China, before being smuggled into the UK through postal and parcel delivery services.
NCA investigators identified Poleszak, who also used the alias Krzysztof Wozniak, after tracing him posting packages from a Post Office on Broad Street in Reading.
He was arrested on October 1, 2025. During searches of his home, officers discovered a makeshift drugs laboratory containing powders, pill dyes, scales, snap bags, masks, and filters. Investigators also recovered a video on his mobile phone showing him constructing a pill press.
The NCA linked Poleszak’s activities to the death of a drug user in Cornwall in February 2025 after evidence suggested he supplied Isotonitazene pills to a local dealer who later sold them to the victim.
A second death occurred in May 2025 in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. Investigators found 19 green nitazene pills inside the victim’s bedroom alongside packaging materials identical to those recovered from Poleszak’s property. Authorities also identified Poleszak’s fingerprints on one of the envelopes recovered at the scene.
NCA Senior Investigating Officer Tim Lambert described Poleszak as an offender who “happily supplied a drug known for killing people” while also possessing thousands of child sexual abuse images.
Poleszak is scheduled to be sentenced on July 17, 2026.
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Reports are sourced from official documents, law-enforcement updates, and credible investigations.
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