More than £2 million worth of fake weight-loss pens have been seized from a filthy industrial unit in Birmingham during a joint raid by West Midlands Police and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The operation, carried out on Wednesday, October 14, uncovered over 12,000 counterfeit Retatrutide and Tirzepatide pens, along with packaging for around 30,000 more products.
The raid, led by the Nechells neighbourhood policing team and the MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit, targeted a warehouse on an industrial estate in the Nechells area. The MHRA described the location as a “filthy warehouse” and said the haul had an estimated street value of around £2 million.
Organised crime link suspected
The scam is believed to be connected to organised crime in the city, although no arrests have been made so far. The Nechells police team said in a statement: “[We] conducted a joint operation yesterday evening with HMRC targeting illegal medicines. No arrests were made, however over £1.5 million street sale value was recovered. This is WMP tackling organised crime.”
The discrepancy between the £1.5 million figure cited by police and the £2 million estimate from the MHRA may reflect different valuation methods, but both agencies confirmed the seizure was substantial.
MHRA warning on unauthorised products
Tim Duffield, Head of Intelligence at the MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit, said: “We are tackling the organised criminal gangs whose illegal trade in unauthorised medicines puts people at risk of serious harm. Our officers seized around £2 million worth of fake weight loss medicines from a filthy warehouse on an industrial estate. These products have not been assessed for safety, quality or effectiveness, and there is no guarantee of what they contain or whether they have been contaminated with harmful substances.”
Duffield highlighted that Retatrutide has not been authorised for use in the UK. “Products being sold as retatrutide outside legitimate clinical trials are being supplied illegally and could pose serious risks to public health,” he said. “We urge people to avoid buying weight-loss medicines from unregulated sources. Anyone considering GLP-1 treatment should speak to a healthcare professional and only obtain medicines from a registered pharmacy against a valid prescription.”
Previous raids across England
The Birmingham raid follows a series of similar operations by the MHRA. In May, raids in Northampton led to two arrests following a raid on a country estate believed to have been used to manufacture, assemble and distribute unlicensed weight-loss medicines. Around 12,000 doses were recovered, together with packaging materials and suspected pharmaceutical substances.
In February, raids at a farm near Sleaford and a residential address in Grantham, Lincolnshire, saw around 2,000 doses of unauthorised weight-loss medicines awaiting dispatch seized, alongside manufacturing equipment, suspected pharmaceutical ingredients, packaging and commercial vehicles.
Twelve months ago, in October last year, officers from the MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit found the first illicit production facility for weight loss medicine in the UK, also on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Northampton. That facility was dismantled, with 5,000 unauthorised retatrutide and tirzepatide pens, thousands of empty pens and raw chemical ingredients recovered. Together, the finished products and ingredients represented the potential for tens of thousands of doses.
The MHRA said its Fake Meds website offers guidance and advice for staying safe when buying medicines online. Anyone who suspects they are having a side effect from a medicine is encouraged to talk to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse and report it directly to the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. The Criminal Enforcement Unit is the MHRA’s in-house law enforcement unit, with the MHRA an executive agency within the Department of Health and Social Care.
