UK seizes record haul of illegal weight-loss drugs in factory raid

Britain's medicines regulator on Friday said it had made the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss medicines recorded globally, dismantling a factory making thousands of unlicensed weight-loss jabs. (X/@press_newswire)
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Updated 24 October 2025
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UK seizes record haul of illegal weight-loss drugs in factory raid

  • MHRA said it had seized 2,000 pens labelled as containing tirzepatide and retatrutide
  • The agency said the factory in central England was the first of its kind discovered in Britain

LONDON: Britain’s medicines regulator on Friday said it had made the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss medicines recorded globally, dismantling a factory making thousands of unlicensed weight-loss jabs.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had seized 2,000 pens labelled as containing tirzepatide and retatrutide — drugs not approved for weight loss in the UK — tens of thousands of empty pens, and raw chemicals.

The agency said the factory in central England was the first of its kind discovered in Britain.
“This is a victory in the fight against the shameless criminals who are putting lives at risk by peddling dangerous and illegal weight loss jabs to make a quick buck,” health minister Wes Streeting said in a statement.
“These unregulated products, made with no regard for safety or quality, posed a major risk to unwitting customers.”


US remains biggest ally and Europe should be more self-confident, Kallas says

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US remains biggest ally and Europe should be more self-confident, Kallas says

BRUSSELS: European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Saturday that the United States remains Europe’s biggest ally, after the Trump administration said in a major strategy document that Europe faces “civilizational erasure” and may one day lose its status as a reliable ally. The new US National Security Strategy, posted on the White House website overnight Thursday-to-Friday, denounced the European Union as anti-democratic and Europe as lacking in self-confidence, and said the goal of the US should be “to help Europe correct its current trajectory.”
“There’s a lot of criticism, but I think some of it is also true, if you look at Europe, it has been underestimating its own power toward Russia,” Kallas said on a panel at the Doha Forum in Qatar.
“We should be more self-confident,” she said, adding that the “US is still our biggest ally.”
“I think we haven’t always seen eye to eye on different topics, but I think the overall principle is still there. We are the biggest allies and we should stick together,” Kallas said.