The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) today (January 29) revealed that it removed “17 million doses of illegally traded medicines with a potential street value of more than £40 million” from circulation last year.
The watchdog worked with its law enforcement partners from the Home Office’s border force to confiscate illegally traded painkillers, sleeping tablets and erectile dysfunction (ED) treatments, among other things, it told C+D.
Read more: ‘New front line’: MHRA removes 150 social media posts selling fake weight loss drugs
The MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit (CEU) “deployed teams...at ports across the UK to identify and seize medicines illegally entering the UK”, it added.
And it stressed that most of the medicines seized were “not licensed for sale in the UK”, explaining that they “can contain too much or too little of the declared active ingredient”, as well as other ingredients not approved for use.
By freezing bank accounts, intercepting digital currencies, seizing luxury goods and confiscating the proceeds of crime following conviction, financial investigators from the CEU also “denied these criminals access to a total of £7.5m in criminal assets”, the regulator said.
“Serious blow”
Deputy director of the MHRA’s CEU Andy Morling said that by seizing criminals’ profits, the watchdog is “removing that single motivation” to trade in illegal medicines.
“Whether held in Bitcoin or banknotes, we can take these criminal profits out of the hands of offenders,” he said, adding that his team’s work is “a win for the safety of the public and a serious blow for organised crime”.
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The MHRA set out that of the 17 million doses seized last year:
- 5.5 million were ED medicines
- 5.5 million were pain treatments
- 2.8 million were sedatives
- 1.6 million were sleep disorder treatments
- 1.9 million were a variety of other medicines
“The CEU also continued to target those individuals and networks illegally trading in medicines online, disrupting more than 1,500 websites and posts on social media accounts selling medicinal products illegally,” the watchdog said.
“Rogue retailers”
Morling stressed that “buying from unverified sources” is a health risk, noting that there is “no guarantee that the products are safe or effective”.
He said that the MHRA can “use the full range of [its] powers to bring offenders before the courts” where appropriate.
“These actions help ensure the public can trust the medicines they rely on every day,” he added.
Read more: Illegally traded drugs worth ‘almost’ £5m seized in 2023, says MHRA
Health minister Karin Smyth said that “shameful criminals selling unregulated and illegal medicines must feel the full force of the law”.
“We are cracking down on these rogue retailers, taking illicit medicines off the streets and keeping the public safe,” she stressed.
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It comes as the MHRA last month revealed that it took down 150 social media posts “actively” selling counterfeit weight loss drugs in 2024.
In an exclusive interview with C+D, Morling explained that social media has “become the new front line” for the sale of such medicines.
And online resale giant eBay exclusively told C+D earlier this month that it worked with the MHRA to block the sale of almost two million illegal medicines last year.
