Seven men have been sentenced after the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) uncovered a “large-scale criminal network” dealing in illegal steroids and prescription-only medicines.
The MHRA said its investigation began after UK Anti-Doping “identified websites linked to the Bolton area that were suspected of selling performance-enhancing steroids and other illegal medicines”.
Its investigators then traced the activity to a flat that was “being used to store, package and distribute the drugs”, it added.
Read more: Criminals ‘cloning’ pharmacy sites to sell fake weight loss meds
The regulator said officers “seized more than 130,000 doses of steroids and unauthorised medicines” being “sold by mail order”.
The confiscated products included tamoxifen, finasteride and modafinil, “highlighting the scale and complexity of the illegal supply network”, it added.
Several individuals were subsequently “charged with offences including conspiracy to supply controlled drugs, supplying unauthorised medicines and money laundering to the value of over £1.8 million”.
Read more: MHRA and eBay remove over 200 fake ED meds from sale
The group, which received combined sentences totalling more than 21 years in prison, included:
- Zaheer Oomer, who pleaded guilty at an early stage to all charges, including money laundering offences to a value of £99,893
- Rizwan Atcha, Imtiaz Atcha and Matthew Williams, who pleaded guilty at the start of the trial last June to money laundering offences involving £772,112, £117,733 and £221,349, respectively
- Abdul Khan, Saddym Shahid, Rajendra Patel, who pleaded not guilty and stood trial facing charges of money laundering involving £139,967, £248,750 and £229,061, respectively
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The MHRA said that Khan, Shahid and Patel were all found guilty by a jury “following consideration of extensive evidence”.
It added that a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation investigation is ongoing.
“Real risk”
MHRA head of intelligence Tim Duffield said the network “was a well-organised operation that put people at real risk”.
“Our investigators worked hard to break up this criminal network and bring those responsible to justice,” he added.
“These convictions are just part of the MHRA’s ongoing work to tackle the illegal trade in medicines and protect public health.”
Read more: Weight loss jabs found being sold in pubs and fish and chip shops
It comes after a survey revealed that one in 10 online pharmacies have had their websites and social media “cloned by criminals” to “trick patients into buying counterfeit weight loss medication”.
And it follows the MHRA announcing that 215 listings of “potentially dangerous, unauthorised” erectile dysfunction medicines have been removed from eBay as part of the regulator’s collaboration with the online marketplace.
