UK’s MHRA seizes £8.6 million of counterfeit, controlled and unlicensed medicines

The UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) revealed last week that it has seized £8.6 million ($14.5 million) of counterfeit and unlicensed medicines in the UK, including huge hauls of potentially harmful slimming pills and controlled drugs such as diazepam and anabolic steroids.

This was part of a week-long international crackdown on the illegal internet trade of medicines that resulted in seizures totalling around £18.6 million globally.

The crackdown, coordinated through Interpol – called Operation Pangea VII - was conducted between May 11 and May 21 and resulted in 237 people being arrested worldwide. This operation also targeted 10,603 web sites that were illegally selling counterfeit and unlicensed medicines and led to them being closed down or suspended through having their domain name or payment facility removal.

Shutdown of 1,891 web sites

In the UK, enforcement officers from the MHRA, with assistance from Home Office Border Force and local police, raided addresses in connection with the illegal internet supply of potentially harmful medicines. This UK activity resulted in the seizure of 3.6 million doses of counterfeit and unlicensed medicines, five arrests and the shutdown of 1,891 web sites.

A breakdown of the UK seizures highlights the trend towards lifestyle medications that are unlicensed, adulterated or controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The most commonly seized drugs were: erectile dysfunction treatments (1.2 million doses), slimming products (383,000) and powerful and often misused drugs like sleeping pills, tranquilisers and antidepressants (330,996 doses). The majority of packages seized that contained medicines supplied illegally originated from India and China, with 72% and 11% of seizures originating from these countries, respectively, said the MHRA.