Officers raided an address in the Llanrwst area following reports that prescription weight-loss drugs were being sold without a licence
Police raided a property in Wales on Monday morning to find a significant amount of Mounjaro with a street value of over £5,000. Mounjaro – a weight-loss drug – is legal to buy in the UK but it is illegal to sell unless the seller is a registered healthcare professional.
Following reports by neighbours that Mounjaro was being allegedly illegally sold from a property in the Llanrwst area of the Conwy Valley, North Wales Police officers turned up at the address on Monday morning to raid the property.
The force later said they seized 48 capsules of Mounjaro with a street value exceeding £5,000. Syringes and other medical equipment were also found on the premises, North Wales Live reports. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here
In the UK Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) is classified as a prescription-only medicine, meaning it can only be legally obtained through a prescription issued by a registered healthcare professional.
The clandestine sale of weight-loss drugs has surged alongside the growing popularity of medications such as Mounjaro and Wegovy, which you can read about here.
This increased demand has led to a rise in unregulated sales; a survey revealed that one in five users of weight loss drugs have purchased them via the black market. Fake injections mimicking leading brands are also being widely distributed across social media platforms and beauty salons.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warns that these illegal products often contain impurities, incorrect dosages, or entirely different substances like insulin or methamphetamine. Earlier this year, a woman in the UK tragically lost her life after receiving unlicensed injections from a beauty salon.
North Wales Police (NWP) is urging the public to stay vigilant against illegal sales. The NWP Conwy and Denbigh rural team, responsible for Monday’s search warrant execution, warned: “Please avoid taking similar false medication, which can have harmful side effects. These concoctions often include wrong medication, are contaminated with harmful bacteria and can be dosed incorrectly.”
In October officers from the MHRA closed down a Northampton factory implicated in the unlawful production of weight loss medicines following the discovery of over 2,000 unlicensed weight-loss drug pens destined for customers – the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss drugs ever recorded by a law enforcement agency globally.
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