March 2, 2026: Europol’s 2025 Operation Shield yielded $38m in counterfeit and illegal medicines; domestic and international news sheds light on GLP-1 crimes
Major Stories
Europol’s Operation SHIELD VI, which operated from April to November 2025, led to 3,354 prosecutions and the seizure of €33 million ($38,600,000) worth of counterfeit medicines and illegal supplements across 30 countries. The operation exposed how organised crime networks exploit growing demand for medicines used for weight loss, performance enhancement, and recreational purposes, including counterfeit semaglutide-based products and fake drugs containing dangerous synthetic substances like nitazenes. Authorities found that misuse of prescription drugs, online trafficking channels, and fraudulent prescription schemes fuel the expansion of the counterfeit pharmaceutical market, posing serious public health risks and generating substantial illicit profits.
(Photo from Europol)
GLP-1 Patient Safety
A Kentucky legislator proposed a bill to regulate med spas after a constituent was seriously injured. In the UK, the MHRA announced a lot of sophisticated fake Mounjaro KwikPens and a second retatrutide facility. Poison control centers around the U.S. reported increasing calls about GLP-1s, and a Michigan man was arrested for importing and selling GLP-1s.
Kentucky State Representative Vanessa Grossl announced plans to file House Bill 729 to strengthen prescription drug safety and oversight of drug compounding in the state. The bill, named “Jimmie’s Law,” is inspired by Jimmie Wilson, who suffered acute liver failure after receiving a compounded weight-loss medication. It seeks to expand board of pharmacy oversight, require adverse event reporting, and tighten supply chain regulations.
The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) warned patients about counterfeit Mounjaro KwikPen injection pens dispensed by a private online clinic in Birmingham. Affected lots are labelled with batch number D873576. Although testing confirmed the fake pens contain tirzepatide, their manufacturing conditions are unknown, raising concerns about sterility and potential infection or allergic reactions. The issue was identified after faulty pens, including dose knobs detaching during use, were reported to manufacturer Eli Lilly and Company.
Batch number of affected pens. (Photo: MHRA)
(Photo: Lincolnshire Police)
The MHRA also raided two premises in England, disrupting a second facility suspected of manufacturing and distributing the unlicensed weight loss medicine retatrutide. Officers seized nearly 2,000 doses of unauthorised products, including retatrutide and tirzepatide, along with manufacturing equipment, pharmaceutical ingredients, and packaging materials. The action follows an October 2025 raid that dismantled what was believed to be the UK’s largest illicit weight loss drug factory, highlighting the growing threat of counterfeit and unregulated slimming injections. Authorities warned that these illegally produced medicines pose serious health risks and are often marketed to vulnerable consumers seeking weight loss treatments outside regulated healthcare channels.
Poison control warnings in Washington and Maryland demonstrate concerning indications of patient harm from compounded weight loss injectables. In Maryland, the poison center recorded a 1500% increase in calls related to compounded GLP-1 medications since 2020. Dr. Rozalina McCoy told the Baltimore Sun, “complicated production processes of these [medicines] leave compounding pharmacies guessing at many solutions, like trying to bake a cake from a picture.” The Washington Poison Center also reported on GLP-1–related calls, which doubled in 2025, warning of particular risk with compounded or vial-and-syringe formulations.
A Michigan man was charged in federal court with conspiring to introduce misbranded prescription drugs into interstate commerce by allegedly selling foreign-made GLP-1 medications without prescriptions. Prosecutors say he was affiliated with a Canadian company before launching his own Michigan-based website, Milestone Purity, both of which allegedly marketed semaglutide and tirzepatide products falsely labeled as American-made. Authorities claim that he promoted the drugs on social media and advised customers on dosing despite advertising them as “for research purposes only.” If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison and potential fines.
Domestic
A recent study shows that U.S. drug shortages drive a surge in illegal online pharmacy sales. Domestic enforcement actions continue, including the federal sentencing of a Texas surgeon for a pharmacy kickback scheme and multiple seizures of pill presses.
A new study from Luis Diestre analyzed 713 U.S. drug shortages from 2017 to 2023 and found that supply disruptions significantly boosted sales for illegal online pharmacies. During shortages, illicit sales of affected drugs rose by 40.5% and remained 32.8% higher even six months after shortages were resolved, suggesting consumers did not fully return to regulated providers. The effect was strongest for drugs treating chronic conditions, those with few substitutes, and during more severe shortages, with additional spillover increases in sales of related medications.
A Texas orthopedic surgeon was sentenced to 8.5 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $13 million in restitution for his role in a $145 million health care fraud scheme. Prosecutors said the doctor accepted bribes and kickbacks from pharmacy owners in exchange for prescribing medically unnecessary compounded creams to injured federal workers covered by the Department of Labor. The creams, which were made by untrained teens and cost about $15 to make, were billed to the U.S. Department of Labor for as much as $16,000 per prescription.
Listen to our podcast with Luis Diestre, about his research on illegal online pharmacies here!
Emily’s Hope hosted a free screening of the documentary Can’t Look Away – The Case Against Social Media in South Dakota, highlighting the dangers of online platforms, including counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl.
In South Carolina, deputies seized nearly five pounds of methamphetamine and a pill press, and charged six individuals with trafficking and weapons offenses. Meanwhile, the United States Marshals Service arrested a suspected regional drug supplier in Tennessee, recovering 271 grams of fentanyl and another pill press.
Regulators protecting patients in the news
Two FDA inspection reports obtained through FOIAs raise concerns about the Food and Drug Administration’s GLP-1 Green List. PSM highlighted serious manufacturing issues at two Chinese firms believed to be on the list, including live and dead insects in production areas, foreign residue on equipment labeled “clean,” water leaks, and microbial contamination concerns. Despite these findings, shipments of semaglutide and tirzepatide from these facilities were reportedly allowed into the U.S. after the list was created in October 2025.
McKesson has initiated a voluntary Class I recall of a subset of serial numbers of UDENYCA, a drug that decreases the incidence of infection in people with low white blood cell counts, manufactured by Accord BioPharma, Inc. The recall affects 116 cartons of the medication that were distributed nationwide after they were found to have been stored at controlled room temperature instead of the required refrigerated conditions.
Read the Green List blog here.
The FDA issued three warning letters:
- MedisourceRx, a California-based 503B outsourcing facility acquired by Hims & Hers in 2024, cited serious violations, including failure to report adverse events and the production of unapproved and misbranded drugs. Inspectors specifically noted the company did not report a severe adverse event involving a patient hospitalized for gastrointestinal complications after receiving compounded semaglutide, raising concerns about underreporting in the compounding sector.
- The FDA cited a Washington facility for failing to adequately test raw materials and finished drug batches, including setting microbiological limits for total plate count far above USP standards and releasing products without proper microbial testing. The agency also noted the company’s Washington site is manufacturing the same product line it previously made at a Delta, B.C. facility, which was placed on Import Alert 66-40 in 2017 for significant CGMP violations.
- A London, UK facility was cited for manufacturing homeopathic drugs and APIs, including products labeled for children as young as two. The agency cited the company for failing to test every batch for microbial contamination, inadequately assessing critical microbial attributes, and extending expiration dates without sufficient stability data to support shelf life claims.
Legislation
Indiana Senate Bill 282, which strengthens oversight of drug compounding and requires medical spas to license with the Medical Licensing Board, has passed Indiana's House and Senate.
Louisiana Senate Bill 401 would establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board to identify high-cost “critical” prescription drugs to set price caps on. The bill would require manufacturers to confidentially report detailed pricing, production, and marketing data; publish annual analyses comparing Louisiana prices to other states and countries; and mandate price disclosures in drug marketing materials provided to healthcare providers.
Colorado Senate Bill 130 would establish the Medical Spa Prescription Drug Consumer Protection Act, making it an unfair or deceptive trade practice for medical spas to improperly acquire, store, handle, administer, or misrepresent prescription drugs.
GLP-1's
Pharmacists should be alert to patients who inspect Mounjaro (or other high-demand medications) boxes before purchase and reject packages with minor imperfections. While some patients may simply prefer “perfect” packaging, this behavior, especially if repeated, can be a red flag for diversion or resale of prescription drugs outside the legitimate supply chain. Vigilance, careful documentation, and awareness of unusual patterns are essential to prevent diversion and protect patient safety.
International
In Russia, a former oncology dispensary head was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison, and Nigeria's NAFDAC warned of circulating falsified cancer medications.
In Russia, the Supreme Court replaced the suspended 4.5-year sentence of the former head of an oncology dispensary with the same term of actual imprisonment for his role in purchasing counterfeit cancer drugs. The defendant must also pay over 10 million rubles in damages.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control issued a warning about falsified Dostinex 0.5mg tablets circulating in Nigeria, identifying three specific counterfeit batches.