Two arrests after raid uncovers 12,000 doses of unlicensed weight loss medicines
Two people have been arrested after a country estate raid recovered 12,000 doses of unlicensed weight loss medicines.
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The men, both aged 29, were arrested after officers from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) criminal enforcement unit raided the estate near Northampton on Thursday night.
The MHRA said the property, which was raided with the help of Northamptonshire Police, is believed to have been used to manufacture, assemble and distribute unlicensed weight loss medicines, including retatrutide and tirzepatide, as well as peptide products.
Around 12,000 doses were recovered, along with “substantial quantities” of packaging materials and what is alleged to be pharmaceutical substances used in the illicit manufacture of the products.
The men were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
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The MHRA said it is the agency’s largest ever seizure of such products.
Andy Morling, head of the criminal enforcement unit, said: “Last night’s hugely successful operation demonstrates, once again, the MHRA’s unwavering commitment to ensuring there is no hiding place for those who cynically put the public’s health at risk for profit.
“Medicines regulation isn’t discretionary – it exists to protect people.
“That’s why we continue to target the traffickers who seek to bypass that protection – taking down the infrastructure that supports them and creating a hostile environment for their exploitative and harmful trade.
“I’m confident that dismantling this illicit production facility will have prevented significant public harm.”