Unlicensed sex drugs estimated to have a value of £10,000 were recently seized in a raid on a home in Kingston, Surrey.The Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency (MHRA) seized the drugs as part of a worldwide crackdown on illegal, unlicensed medicines. Although the MHRA would not disclose the exact location of the raid, they confirmed that drugs seized included ‘Stiff Nights’, ‘Weekend Prince’ and ‘Kamagra’ (a fake version of Viagra). The unlicensed sex drugs are thought to have been imported from overseas and have not been subjected to the rigorous trials required for sale on the UK market.
Nimo Ahmed, MHRA Acting Head of Enforcement, said “When you buy medicines from an unregulated source you don’t know what you’re getting, where it came from or if it’s safe to take. The dose could be too high or too low, or the ingredients could break down incorrectly in the body which makes the medicine ineffective.”
Mr Ahmed said that unlicensed medicines are often made, stored and transported in filthy conditions, and that the MHRA have sometimes found that medicines have been made up in cement mixers. He said that anyone looking to buy medicines should always visit their GP rather than risk their health through buying drugs from unregulated sources over the internet.
Although no arrests were made at the scene, the drugs were confiscated and tests are currently being run to determine whether the drugs contain any dangerous substances. Further action may be taken depending on the results of the tests.
The MHRA, along with the Police Central eCrime Unit (PCEU) also targeted spam emails advertising unlicensed pharmaceuticals. In the UK alone, more than 384 generic top level domain names were suspended, and another 120 are being shut down. The worldwide fake drug crackdown has shut down approximately 18,000 illegal online pharmacy websites and resulted in the arrests of 79 people.
A spokesperson for the MHRA has said that while there are no follow up operations planned in Kingston, they will continue to keep a vigilant eye on the country as a whole and hope that the recent action will deter many people from buying or selling potentially harmful drugs over the internet.
