By Jerald Jimenez
Aug 29, 2023, 23:42 PM EDT
Authorities in Canada on Tuesday charged a person with supplying lethal substances to 14 people, who eventually committed suicide, through websites that provided chemicals to customers internationally.
Kenneth Law, 57, was arrested in May by Canadian authorities for selling sodium nitrite and other potentially deadly products to people who have taken their own lives in Canada.
However, this Tuesday new charges for the sale of chemicals and other products were added to another 12 people between the ages of 16 and 36, who also committed suicide in that country, the EFE news agency reported.
Law would be involved in similar cases around the world
Law is also being investigated in the United States, Britain, Italy, New Zealand and Australia for allegedly bringing sodium nitrite into those countries.
Law had operated its own websites since at least 2020, shipping up to 1,200 packages of the dangerous chemicals to customers in more than 40 countries, according to Canadian Police Inspector Simon James at a news conference Tuesday.
Specifically, the packages contained sodium nitrite, which is a deadly chemical if given in multiple doses, and other products that can cause self-harm.
A total of 232 people purportedly bought chemicals from Law’s websites in Britain, of whom 88 committed suicide.
Data published this Tuesday also indicated that in 2019 a total of 37 people died in the province of Ontario due to the ingestion of sodium nitrite, more than 90% of the deaths that ended in suicides.
Recent British investigations and Law’s arrest prompted Canadian authorities to review past deaths linked to his criminal activities.