Illegal weight-loss medication has been seized from a farm and home in Lincolnshire suspected of being involved in a criminal network making and selling fake jabs.
Almost 2,000 doses of the dangerous “skinny jabs” were seized in two raids by officers from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and Lincolnshire Police.
Manufacturing equipment, suspected pharmaceutical ingredients, packaging and commercial vehicles were also found in the raids. The street value of the finished weight-loss products alone was estimated to be more than £250,000.
The raids were in response to reports of people “becoming unwell” or finding the products were “ineffective” after using the unregulated drugs, Lincolnshire Police said.
Health officials warned the unlicensed products are potentially deadly and are often made with “no regard for safety, sterility, or quality”.
Dr Zubir Ahmed, health innovation and patient safety minister, said: “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.”
Drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro have helped more than 1.5 million people lose extra weight in the UK alone, with 4 per cent of households currently using them. But fake versions of these drugs risk not only making people ill, but in some cases, they could be fatal.
The two premises searched last Tuesday, 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.
The trend of organised crime gangs making fake weight-loss medication emerged last year, leading the MHRA to conduct the largest seizure of trafficked weight-loss drugs ever recorded by any global law enforcement agency.
More than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide and tirzepatide pens due to be sent to customers were seized by MHRA in a raid on an illegal weight-loss drug factory in Northampton in October 2025.
The weight-loss pens were empty and ready to be filled with chemical ingredients.
Andy Morling, head of the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, said after last Tuesday’s raid: “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.”
