Officers from the Criminal Enforcement Unit (CEU) of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have raided two separate premises in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire as part of an ongoing investigation into an organised criminal network involved in the manufacture and sale of unlicensed weight loss medicines.

During the operation, MHRA officers, supported by Lincolnshire Police, Immigration Enforcement and Lincolnshire Trading Standards, seized almost 2,000 doses of unauthorised weight loss medicines awaiting dispatch to customers, alongside manufacturing equipment, suspected pharmaceutical ingredients, packaging, and commercial vehicles.

The two premises searched, a farm near Sleaford and a residential address in Grantham, are believed to have been used for the manufacture and distribution of unlicensed weight loss medicines, including retatrutide and tirzepatide, as well as peptide products.

Dr Zubir Ahmed, health innovation and patient safety minister, said: ‘This week's raids have taken dangerous, unregulated products off our streets. These medicines are made with no regard for safety and pose serious risks. We will not allow criminals to profit by exploiting people looking for help with their weight.

‘Do not buy weight-loss medicines from unregulated sources. Safe, effective, licensed treatments can make a real difference for those who need them - but they must come from a registered pharmacy, with a valid prescription.

‘We are also investing £25m in better weight loss support programmes and referrals to weight loss jabs from GPs - where clinically appropriate - as part of our shift from sickness to prevention.'

Andy Morling, head of the MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit, said: ‘The message from today to those illegally trading in medicines could not be clearer: we are coming for you. Our raid in October was just the start. Every illegal product and every piece of manufacturing equipment we seize disrupts these criminal networks and brings us closer to dismantling them entirely. We will stop at nothing to protect the public and hold criminals to account for the harm they are knowingly doing.'

The operation follows a landmark raid in October 2025, in which CEU officers dismantled the UK's first illicit weight loss medicine manufacturing facility in Northampton.