Hundreds of dangerous ‘DIY’ weight-loss injection kits were stopped from entering the UK last year – amid a broader crackdown on organised gangs trafficking unlicensed medicines.
The popularity of celebrity-endorsed treatments like Ozempic has seen demand outstrip supply, giving criminal groups an opportunity to release their own counterfeit versions supposedly containing the active ingredient, semaglutide.
These are often wrongly labelled and potentially deadly, with at least one woman known to have fallen seriously ill after injecting herself with chemicals from a kit she bought on social media.
Officials insist that the only way to guarantee a medicine is genuine is to buy it from a registered pharmacy against a prescription issued by a healthcare professional.
Andy Morling, head of the MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit, told MailOnline: ‘If you buy medicines from unverified sources there is no guarantee the product is safe or effective, and it may even be contaminated with toxic substances.’
Mr Morling insisted that counterfeit drugs remained rare in the UK, with the vast majority of seizures made by his team consisting of controlled drugs or unlicensed generic medicines. However, there remains a market for fake weight loss medication.
‘Ozempic has been counterfeited in relatively modest numbers since 2023, when we seized 869 Ozempic-branded pens. Some contained insulin, which was concerning, because non-clinical use can be fatal,’ he said.
‘We broke the back of that model but we are now seeing criminals selling ”DIY kits” that include the active ingredient in powdered form alongside syringes so customers can inject themselves.
Examples of adverts for weight loss medication previously found circulating on social media
One Instagram user, Maddy, revealed last year how she had ended up in A&E vomiting blood after injecting herself with semaglutide from a DIY kit she bought on Instagram
Andy Morling, head of the MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit, says he continues to see counterfeit drugs online, but the majority of seizures made by his team consisting of controlled drugs or unlicensed generic medicines. Pictured are luxury watches recovered during raids last week on a gang suspected of organised medicines trafficking
‘We’ve seized 327 vials containing powder sold as semaglutide, four pre-filled syringes and one pen, taking the total number of weight loss products intercepted so far to 1201.
‘That’s a small number in the context of the 17.5million doses of unlicensed medicines that we seized last year. But it’s problematic as they are particularly high risk – there’s no way of knowing what’s in the vials.’
Counterfeit medicines that end up in the UK are usually sold via social media.
One Instagram user, Maddy, revealed last year how she had ended up in A&E vomiting blood after injecting herself with semaglutide from a DIY kit she bought for £200 from influencer Jordan Parke, who calls himself The Lip King.
Mr Morling said he continues to see a ‘very small number’ of counterfeit medicines being sold online, but far more significant was the trafficking of controlled drugs – like anti-anxiety tablets and sleeping pills – and unlicensed versions of generic erectile dysfunction treatments.
He spoke a week after his unit arrested 12 suspects in dawn raids on 22 homes and premises in the West Midlands and North West as part of the largest crackdown on organised medicines trafficking in the MHRA’s history.
Officers confiscated hundreds of thousands of doses of medicine, including controlled drugs such as opioid painkillers and anti-anxiety tables, alongside £100,000 in cash, luxury watches and cryptocurrency.
Mr Morling said most medicines sold illegally in the UK come from countries in South Asia such as India, which has a large pharmaceutical industry that manufactures a large volume of generic tablets.
Hundreds of thousands of doses of medicines during last week’s raids on 22 residential and commercial premises in the West Midlands and North West
Officials also confiscated £100,000 in cash as well as cryptocurrency
Brian Pitts and Katie Harlow coordinated the production and sale of counterfeit tablets from a luxury villa in Thailand
In 2023, Michelle Sword, 45, pictured with her two children Cadie (right), 13, and Coen (left), 18 told how she collapsed after taking a weight loss jab she bought online
Ms Sword said the doctors who saved her life called her recovery little short of miraculous. Pictured being attended to by medics after taking the counterfeit jab
One of the 600 fake Ozempic pens seized across the UK in 2023
How to avoid buying fake or unlicensed medicines
Officials say the only way to guarantee you receive a genuine weight-loss medicine is to obtain it from a legitimate pharmacy, including those trading online, against a prescription issued by a healthcare professional.
If you’re offered a weight-loss medicine in any other circumstances, whether online or offline, they are putting your health at serious risk and breaking the law.
For online pharmacies based in Great Britain you can check on the General Pharmaceutical Council’s (GPhC) website that it is properly registered.
Common tell tale signs that a website may be dodgy include –
Unusual web address – legitimate retailers will not use a product name in the URLPoor website design with spelling or grammatical errorsPop-up adsExaggerated claims like ‘100% safe’, ‘no side effects’ or ‘quick results’Promise of quick ‘next day’ delivery. Taking shortcuts could expose you to unlicensed medicines, identity theft and credit card fraud.Advertising prescription-only medicines and prices on the ‘home page’ (illegal in the UK)No prescription required for prescription medicinesPayment accepted in crypto currenciesYou are asked not to name the medicine or website in your banking transaction referenceNo physical or street address available
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The model he described resembles that used by legitimate retailers, such as Amazon.
He said customers were attracted to unlicensed medicines for a variety of reasons, including price and convenience, while in many cases they would not even realise they were buying from an illegal outlet.
‘Organised groups working across continents traffic these medicines into the UK in a variety of ways, including fast parcels, while others come through in larger air freight consignments,’ he said.
‘We find criminals nowadays tend to be using the fulfillment model that other retailers use, so medicines are stored in the UK once they make it through controls before being distributed to the end customer through the domestic post.
‘The main vehicle for selling these medicines are websites that give the appearance of being genuine pharmacies – so consumers often won’t realise they are buying from an illegal source.’
He insisted even medicines produced legitimately abroad still posed a risk to people in the UK.
‘The majority of these medicines are unlicensed for sale in the UK so they’ve not been subject to the high regulatory standards we set and there are no guarantees over their safety of efficacy or composition,’ he said.
Other types of unlicensed medicines intercepted by Border Force and the MHRA include tranquilisers, sedatives and hair loss medication.
Products seized in the UK last year had a street value of £40million.
Criminals are attracted to the trade by the huge profit margins on offer, with pills costing a gang 1p to buy abroad could sell in the UK for £1 or £2.50.
The profits may then be invested in other illegal enterprises ranging from drug dealing to sex trafficking.
‘Organised criminals don’t tend to discriminate, they tend to go where the money is good and the trade is quite substantial, and the profits from medicines trafficking are arguably greater than conventional narcotics,’ Mr Morling said.
A stamp used to create fake tablets of the powerful anti-anxiety medication Xanax
The gang operated makeshift pill production factories in garages and garden sheds in the UK
Sealed tablets found at one of the illegal pill mills in Britain
‘They also perceive the penalties and chance of being apprehended is less than conventional narcotics trafficking.
‘But they are wrong on all counts because the sentences available for substances that are also controlled drugs are similar to narcotics, and we are getting good at seizing these shipments.
‘We also trace and seize and confiscate the proceeds of this criminality.
Last year, we denied criminals access to £7.5million and we’ll be putting evidence before the courts to have it permanently removed so we can reinvest some of it in continuing this work.’
The global nature of medicines trafficking was revealed by the recent prosecution of a British gang with supply lines stretching to Thailand and China.
Brian Pitts – known online as Milkman – his partner Katie Harlow and father-in-law Lee Lloyd coordinating the production and sale of counterfeit tablets online from their HQ in a luxury villa in Thailand.
The wider group, most of whom were from the same extended family, manufactured the tablets in makeshift pill production factories in garages and garden sheds in the UK, using industrial pill presses and active ingredients imported from China.
Medicines trafficking is a major issue worldwide, with items often being sent by air freight. Pictured are items seized by police on the Continent
A drugs press seized from an organised gang operating in Europe
Injections like Ozempic and Wegovy are designed to help type 2 diabetes patients control their blood sugar levels or for obese people to lose weight for health purposes
They sold to customers on the Dark Web, primarily the market in the USA, using Bitcoin to receive payment.
The group sold around £4million worth of pills in total, including tablets of anti-anxiety medication Xanax.
Eleven people were convicted of offences including conspiracy to supply a controlled drug and received jail terms of up to eight years.
The Lip King did not previously respond to the BBC’s request for comment. MailOnline could not reach him for comment.
