Criminal gangs sell Ozempic

The Swedish Medicines Agency is currently gathering forces together with the police, pharmaceutical manufacturers and international regulators to stop the illegal trade in counterfeit medicines.

There is growing concern about a growing black market for counterfeit medicines operating in the dark. In November 2024, the Swedish Medicines Agency was commissioned by the government to investigate the existence of illegal drug sales to Swedish consumers online.

The Swedish Medicines Agency has now were able to identify a total of 122 websites specifically targeting Swedish consumers that were selling drugs illegally. About eighty of the sellers were linked to Sweden.

– There are currently many weight loss, potency enhancing and pharmaceutical drugs being sold on the websites we have been able to track. And only trading takes place completely openly. Of course, a large part of trading takes place on the dark web.

Several of the sites could be linked to known gang crime, says Tomas Nilsson:

– Almost all criminal gangs in Sweden also sell medicines.

Do you think Foxtrot is selling fake Ozempic?

– The information we received from the police is sold by most major criminal networks. This could include foxtrot. But we can’t name them exactly.

According to Tomas Nilsson, the active ingredient is smuggled into Sweden from China or other Asian countries. But the production itself often takes place in Sweden, he says.

“You import the substance itself and then make the vials or capsules or something similar in Sweden,” says Tomas Nilsson from the Medical Products Agency.

Last year, police raided several large “pharmaceutical factories” that produced, among other things, counterfeit slimming products. At the same time, both police and Swedish customs increased seizures of smuggled medicines, which DN reported on last fall. But only a fraction of illegal trade can apparently be discovered and stopped by the authorities.

Seizure statistics from the Swedish Customs Service show that there is a large illicit influx of medicines into Sweden. However, Swedish customs do not have the authority to take action against shipments of medicines within the EU unless they involve narcotics or doping substances.

Because the expensive drugs are not lightly prescribed and are not subsidized for weight loss, this has led to demand on the black market, which DN has previously reported on.

The Swedish Medicines Agency Experts also warn that purchasing counterfeit drugs sold illegally online and marketed through social media could pose major health risks. This is because you do not know what the product actually contains or can ensure that it has been handled correctly.

But the Medical Products Agency said in its report submitted to the government last week that there were major shortcomings in regulatory oversight.

The Swedish Medicines Agency sees, among other things, the need to be able to carry out increased covert surveillance, carry out hidden test purchases and introduce an automated way of working to detect illegal trade. In addition, the authority proposes to tighten the penalties for violations of pharmaceutical law.