Horn Lane based company sold lethal drugs for executions
The business location of Dream Pharma Ltd on Horn Lane
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June 1, 2023
A podcast team researching a series for the BBC about death row in American is interested in talking to people in the Acton area with information about Dream Pharma Ltd.
The company which was based on Horn Lane at the Elgone Driving School was the supplier of lethal drugs to the Arizona and Georgia state authorities which were used in executions.
The six-part series will be considering whether capital punishment in the states is coming to an end and what are the factors influencing changing attitudes.
Dream Pharma hit the headlines back in 2011 when the bizarre local connection first emerged. It was run by Mehdi Alavi who acted as a wholesaler for the drugs acting a middleman for British pharmaceutical companies which made the drugs. The manufacturers vehemently denied they were aware of the purposes for which their products were being ordered.
He was paid over £4,000 for the supply of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride to Carson McWilliams, the warden of the Arizona State Prison Complex.
Later Reprieve UK, which campaigns globally against the death penalty said that Dream Pharma expedited the order of drugs that were used to execute Emanuel Hammond, a prisoner on death row in the US state of Georgia.
In press release, Reprieve claims that Mehdi Alavi, owner of Dream Pharma 'knew his drugs would be used to kill and expedited prison orders for that reason.'
Since this time restrictions have been introduced on the export of these drugs to stop their use in implementing the death penalty.
Dream Pharma is still operating but has shifted its registered address to Hampton near where Mr Alavi lives.
The researchers would like to speak privately to anyone who knew Mr Alavi.
If you feel you have information that would be of interest, you can contact Anna Meisel by email on anna.meisel@bbc.co.uk.
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