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More than 17 million doses of illegally-traded medicines, with a potential street value of more than £40m, were taken out of circulation in 2024 by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and its law enforcement partners.
This includes 5.5 million doses of erectile dysfunction medicines, 5.5 million doses of painkillers, 2.8 million doses of sedatives and 1.6 million doses of sleeping tablets, the MHRA said in a statement published on 29 January 2025.
The MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit (CEU) worked with the UK Border Force at ports across the UK to identify and seize medicines illegally entering the country.
Most of the seized medicines were not licensed for sale in the UK. Those medicines could, therefore, contain too much or too little of the declared active ingredient and may have also contained other ingredients that are not approved for use.
The CEU also targeted individuals and networks illegally trading in medicines online, which disrupted more than 1,500 websites and posts on social media accounts selling medicinal products illegally.
Andy Morling, head of the CEU, said: “We work tirelessly to protect patients by preventing medicines crime, disrupting it and bringing offenders to justice. We do this by working with partners to remove illegally-traded medicines from circulation, deny the criminal networks the proceeds of their crimes and disrupt online criminality.
“Where appropriate, we will also use the full range of our powers to bring offenders before the courts. These actions help ensure the public can trust the medicines they rely on every day.”
Using its legislative powers, the CEU can freeze bank accounts, intercept digital currencies, seize luxury goods and confiscate the proceeds of crime following conviction.
In 2024, the CEU’s financial investigators seized a total of £7.5m in criminal assets.
“Criminals are in the illegal medicines trade for one reason only: to make money. By seizing their profits, we’re removing that single motivation. Whether held in Bitcoin or banknotes, we can take these criminal profits out of the hands of offenders. We can also use some of the money to strengthen our enforcement efforts against them,” Morley added.
Health minister Karin Smyth said: “We are cracking down on these rogue retailers, taking illicit medicines off the streets and keeping the public safe. The MHRA will use the funds made through this to strengthen future action against criminals.”
The MHRA seized more than £30m of illegal medicines in 2023, including a small number of aesthetic products, such as Botox and weight-loss products containing semaglutide.
In November 2024, the organisation said that weight-loss drugs made up a “very small” proportion of illegal medicines trade in the UK.
