Officers from a UK medicine regulator raided two sites in February during an ongoing investigation into a criminal network that manufactures and distributes unlicensed weight-loss medicines, also known as “skinny jabs.”
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) stated that the operation, which targeted farm and residential properties in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, resulted in the seizure of nearly 2,000 doses of unauthorized weight-loss medicines, including retatrutide, tirzepatide and peptide products. The agency added that officers also confiscated manufacturing equipment, suspected pharmaceutical ingredients, packaging and commercial vehicles.
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Lincolnshire Police stated that the raids followed reports of people becoming ill or seeing no results after purchasing the medicines. The MHRA warned that illicit weight-loss injections can contain untested ingredients, incorrect dosing and contamination, which pose serious and potentially fatal risks.
No arrests have been made, according to a Lincolnshire Police release issued a day after the raid. The UK’s Immigration Enforcement and Lincolnshire Trading Standards also supported the operation.
The raid comes nearly four months after the MHRA stormed a warehouse in Northampton to dismantle a major weight-loss medicine manufacturing facility. During the search, MHRA officers seized weight-loss products with an estimated street value of over $335,000. The MHRA believed it was the largest single seizure of trafficked weight-loss medicines by a law enforcement agency worldwide.
The U.S. FDA has also highlighted the risks of unapproved weight-loss products, issuing warning letters to companies distributing active pharmaceutical ingredients, such as retatrutide and certain other GLP-1 drugs.
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