Fake fat jabs online: Cornwall police warn of cement and arsenic

The price looks too good to be true. A month of weight loss injections for a fraction of what the high street charges, delivered to your door, with no awkward questions asked. Officers in Camelford want you to stop right there, because what arrives in the post may not be anything like what you think you are injecting.

Camelford Police has shared a warning about fake online pharmacies selling counterfeit weight loss drugs and other medicines. Their advice is to check any pharmacy before you buy from it, a job that takes about a minute.

What Camelford Police are warning about

The post admits the temptation is real. Saving money matters. But fake online pharmacies can send out medicines that are inappropriate, wrongly dosed or counterfeit, and counterfeits can contain seriously dangerous substances, including cement and even arsenic.

“Taking one moment to check a pharmacy’s registration could save your life,” the officers said.

Why weight loss jabs are a target

Weight loss injections such as Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide) are prescription-only medicines in the UK, and demand has exploded. The pharmacy regulator, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), warned last year that price rises and stock shortages could push people towards illegal sellers offering them cheaper.

The figures suggest that is happening. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) seized 407 falsified or unlicensed weight loss injections in 2023. By 2025 that number had reached 5,851, roughly 14 times higher. A large share were found through investigations inside the UK rather than at the border, pointing to a black market operating at home.

Separately, Freedom of Information figures obtained by Chemist4U show UK Border Force seized around 18,300 illegal or unregulated weight loss and diabetes medicines between January 2024 and June 2025.

The fake jab factories found in England

In October 2025, MHRA investigators and Northamptonshire Police raided a warehouse on an industrial estate in Northampton. They found tens of thousands of empty, unlicensed pens waiting to be filled, raw chemical ingredients, and more than 2,000 retatrutide and tirzepatide pens ready to post to customers. It is believed to be the largest single seizure of trafficked weight loss medicines recorded by any law enforcement agency in the world.

Retatrutide is still experimental and has not been approved for general use. Andy Morling, head of the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, described the products as “untested, unauthorised, and potentially deadly”, warning some could be contaminated with toxic substances.

In February this year, a second operation hit a farm building in Lincolnshire that had been turned into an illegal manufacturing site, along with a house in Nottingham. Almost 2,000 more doses were seized. Police believe the group sold them online and advertised on social media, including TikTok.

📷Credit: General Pharmaceutical Council

What could be inside a fake

The GPhC lists four things you could be getting from a fake online pharmacy: an unknown ingredient, none of the active ingredient at all, the wrong dose, or a contaminated product.

The Government’s FakeMeds campaign goes further, naming mercury, arsenic, rat poison and cement among the substances found in fake medicines. Fakes are often made and stored in dirty, unsafe conditions, which matters all the more for something you inject. And handing your card details to an illegal seller can open the door to fraud and identity theft on top of the health risk.

How to check an online pharmacy

Camelford Police set out three simple steps:

1. Find the pharmacy’s GPhC registration number on its website.
2. Search for the pharmacy on the official GPhC pharmacy register.
3. If the pharmacy is not listed, do not use it.

Every legitimate pharmacy in Great Britain has to be on that register. A few other warning signs are worth knowing. Be wary of any site offering prescription-only medicines with no prescription or consultation, prices far below everyone else, or jabs sold through social media and messaging apps. The GPhC has warned there are thousands of illegal websites falsely claiming to be pharmacies.

If you are thinking about weight loss medication, your GP or a registered pharmacist is the safe place to start. More on looking after your health in Cornwall is on our health pages.

If you have already bought something

Do not use a product you are unsure about, and do not try to inject from a pen that looks faulty or tampered with. If you feel unwell after using one, speak to your GP or pharmacist, or call NHS 111. In an emergency, call 999.

Suspected fake medicines and side effects can be reported to the MHRA through the Yellow Card scheme, online or through the Yellow Card app.

Nearly half of UK adults aged 18 to 30 have bought a medicine or medical product online, according to the MHRA.