The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) yesterday (April 29) announced that it arrested twelve suspects in “dawn raids” in its “biggest ever crackdown on organised medicines trafficking”.
The raids – which yesterday took place in four counties across the West Midlands and the Northwest of England – were part of the “largest criminal investigation into organised medicines trafficking in the history of the MHRA”, it said.
Read more: MHRA crack-down seized £40m in illegally traded drugs last year
“In searches of 22 residential and commercial premises, hundreds of thousands of doses of medicines [were] seized, including controlled drugs such as opioid painkillers and anti-anxiety medicines,” it added.
“Around £100,000 in cash, luxury watches and suspected criminal assets held in cryptocurrency” were also seized, the MHRA said, adding that it also “obtained restraint orders for more than £3.5 million in assets suspected to be linked to criminal activity”.
“150 officers”
All suspects were arrested “on suspicion of participating in the activities of an organised crime group, conspiracy to sell or supply controlled drugs and unlicensed medicines and money laundering” and are “being held for questioning” at police stations, it said.
“The raids across the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire and Merseyside follow a lengthy intelligence-led investigation, codenamed ‘Operation Subaru’, by the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit (CEU),” the watchdog added.
Read more: Illegal online pharmacies: Man dies after ‘inadvertent’ overdose
“Around 150 officers” were deployed in the operation, with MHRA staff supported by West Midlands and North West regional organised crime units, the National Crime Agency (NCA), Staffordshire police and Greater Manchester police, it said.
“Nowhere to hide”
Head of the MHRA CEU Andy Morling said that the operation demonstrated the MHRA’s “commitment to protecting the public by dismantling the organised international criminal networks that cause so much harm”.
“Trafficking in medicines destroys lives and places a huge financial burden on wider society,” he said, adding that his “dedicated team will stop at nothing to tackle this illegal trade by taking potentially harmful medicines off the street and bringing those responsible to justice”.
Read more: AI eBay algorithm blocks two million illegal medicine sales
“There is nowhere to hide,” Morling said, expressing his gratitude for the “substantial, enthusiastic and unwavering support” of the law enforcement partners involved.
It comes after the MHRA announced in January that it seized more than 17 million doses of illegally traded medicines amounting to a “potential street value” of more than £40m in 2024.
Read more: ‘New front line’: MHRA removes 150 social media posts selling fake weight loss drugs
The same month, C+D revealed that online resale giant eBay worked “closely” with the MHRA to block the sale of almost two million illegal medicines last year.
And the medicines watchdog told C+D in December that it had taken down 150 social media posts “actively” selling counterfeit weight loss drugs in 2024, revealing that “criminals are now selling through social media rather than websites”.
