The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and West Midlands Police reported seizing fake weight loss medicines worth approximately £2 million in a raid on an industrial unit in Birmingham on October 14, 2026. According to the MHRA press release published the following day, officers recovered over 12,000 counterfeit retatrutide and tirzepatide pens, along with packaging for around 30,000 more products.

Tim Duffield, Head of Intelligence at the MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit, said the products had not been assessed for safety, quality or effectiveness, and that there is no guarantee of what they contain or whether they have been contaminated with harmful substances. The MHRA noted that retatrutide has not been authorised for use in the UK.

The agency described the raid as the latest in a series of operations against unauthorised GLP-1 weight loss medicines. In May 2026, two people were arrested after a raid on a country estate, with around 12,000 doses recovered. In February 2026, around 2,000 doses awaiting dispatch were seized. In October 2025, the MHRA dismantled what it described as the first illicit weight loss medicine production facility discovered in the UK, seizing 5,000 pens plus empty pens and raw ingredients.