‘More dangerous than heroin’: Fake skinny jabs smuggled into the UK

ITV News Health Correspondent Rebecca Barry and Senior Producer Liz Little investigate the skinny jab black market

Fake ‘skinny jabs’ produced in China are being smuggled into the UK in a black market described as “more dangerous than the supply of cocaine and heroin,” an investigation by ITV News has found.

The supply chain has been linked to several hospitalisations in the UK – one woman had to be treated in intensive care.

Our investigation also found the suppliers are using counterfeit Mounjaro packaging, deceiving buyers who believe they are purchasing genuine weight-loss medications.

Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Mounjaro, told ITV News those responsible are putting “lives at risk.”

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Weight-loss injections can only be legally and safely dispensed with a prescription from a healthcare professional.

But with high rates of obesity, limited availability of weight-loss drugs on the NHS and high private costs, many are being tempted by alternative sources.

Earlier this year, ITV News exposed Dale Dennis, who appears in dozens of social media videos promoting the sale of unlicensed weight-loss drugs.

Dennis, who’s originally from Yorkshire, operates multiple businesses from Koh Samui in Thailand.

While he uses the brand name ‘Raw,’ there’s no suggestion he’s linked to other businesses with the same name.

He has thousands of followers across his social media accounts and a global network of “ambassadors” promoting his brands.

He posts videos flaunting his wealth, portraying a luxury lifestyle in which he enjoys travelling the world, wearing designer watches and riding jet-skis.

ITV News has been monitoring his activity online, where he brags about sourcing new weight-loss products.

We identified the laboratory he visited in the city of Shenzhen, in southeastern China, where they claim to produce weight loss medications. These drugs are unregulated and not licensed for use in the UK.

When our undercover journalist placed an order online, postal records show the parcel was dispatched from Goole, a town in Yorkshire where Dale Dennis grew up.

This summer, the health authorities and the police in Yorkshire issued a warning about unregulated ‘skinny jabs’ after several people became unwell.

Dennis posts videos portraying a luxury lifestyle in which he enjoys travelling the world, wearing designer watches and riding jet-skis. / Credit:

In the market town of Selby, ten miles away from Goole, three women became seriously ill after using unlicensed weight-loss injections.

One woman had to be treated in intensive care. ITV News understands her oesophagus had ruptured, because she’d vomited so violently.

Sources claim the drugs were supplied by Dale Dennis’ network.

Over the last year, our undercover journalists have bought several batches of unlicensed medications via social media accounts linked to Dale Dennis.

On one occasion, the supplier gave us bank account details for the payment. ITV News discovered the account holder was listed as Mathew Archibald.

We identified him as a 35-year-old man from Goole in Yorkshire, who used to run a business in Selby and now lives in York.

ITV News repeatedly attempted to contact Mathew Archibald, but he did not respond.

Tony Saggers, former Head of Drugs Threat and Intelligence at the National Crime Agency, says this is more dangerous than cocaine and heroin.

Tony Saggers, former Head of Drugs Threat and Intelligence at the National Crime Agency, told ITV News it was a “perfect storm” of supply and demand – even more harmful than the supply of Class A drugs.

“This is more dangerous than the supply of illicit drugs like cocaine and heroin.

“The majority of people using those drugs know what they’re buying – but with these drugs, they are marketed as legitimate.

“People are putting substances in their bodies that are high risk of either hospitalising them or potentially even killing them.”

Saggers believes the UK authorities should be doing more to tackle this supply chain.

“They are sending dangerous products that have been produced in a non-regulated market. It has to be disrupted”

Despite previously being exposed by ITV News, the dealers have not been deterred and have even deployed new, dangerous tactics to deceive people.

They sent our undercover journalist a message asking for samples of legitimate Mounjaro packaging.

A short time later, they began promoting and selling fake Mounjaro injection pens, with counterfeit logos, purporting to be genuine.

Professor Perdita Barran is urging people to buy from a reputable medical source.

ITV News bought some of the products via a WhatsApp account and sent them to a laboratory to be tested.

Scientists found they contained a different weight-loss drug, rather than tirzepatide, as labelled; it was semaglutide, and the dosage was at least 20 times higher than recommended.

Professor Perdita Barran, from the University of Manchester, told ITV News the results made her feel “sick”.

“Not only was it the wrong drug at the wrong amount, but it was much too much. People will get bad side effects from this. They may well have diarrhoea, they may well have other gastric problems, and they may also get severe reactions at the site of injection.

“I just really caution people don’t buy things except from a reputable medical source.”

We took our findings to the drug company that makes Mounjaro, Eli Lilly.

Dr Emily Pegg, Eli Lilly’s European Medical Director says this is really worrying.

Emily Pegg, the company’s European Medical Director, told ITV News the suppliers of the counterfeit drugs are “putting patient lives at risk”.

“The really worrying thing about a product like this is that it’s had no regulatory oversight. So, we do not know how this was made, where it was made. It’s not subject to any regulatory oversight or quality standards as a genuine product would be.”

In response to our findings, Eli Lilly has made a report to the medicines regulator, the MHRA, and its internal legal teams are investigating.

ITV News understand the medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, is currently investigating the allegations exposed in our report.

An MHRA spokesperson told ITV News: “The MHRA’s Criminal Enforcement Unit works tirelessly with partners, including Border Force, to tackle those responsible for importing and selling medicines illegally and causing harm.

“We target all levels within these organised criminal gangs, and as their tactics evolve, so do our methods to identify, disrupt, and dismantle them.”