{"id":91576,"date":"2018-05-03T10:13:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-03T10:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=9f125ab6a46efff8fa95d917d414012f"},"modified":"2018-05-03T10:13:10","modified_gmt":"2018-05-03T10:13:10","slug":"news-story-unlicensed-medicines-busted-in-bolton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=91576","title":{"rendered":"News story: Unlicensed medicines busted in Bolton"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<p>A total of 4 people were arrested yesterday following morning raids in Bolton after MHRA (Medicines &amp; Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) investigators searched a series of addresses.<\/p>\n<p>Officers executed searches at 5 locations across Bolton after a tireless investigation into a suspected network of illegal activity potentially running into the millions of pounds.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators seized a large variety of prescription only medicine, including erectile dysfunction medication, hair loss medication, narcolepsy medication and steroids.<\/p>\n<p>The suspects were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply medicines, class C controlled drugs and money laundering. The suspects have been taken into custody to be questioned by MHRA investigators.<\/p>\n<p>MHRA\u2019s Head of Enforcement, Alastair Jeffrey:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It is a serious criminal offence to sell potent unlicensed or prescription-only medicines.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s arrests are a result of a determined investigation by teams dedicated to protecting public health.<\/p>\n<p>We work relentlessly with regulatory and law enforcement colleagues to identify and prosecute those involved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Those who sell medicines illegally are exploiting vulnerable people and have no regard for their health. Prescription only medicines are potent and should only be taken under medical supervision.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>MHRA is currently running the #FakeMeds campaign to educate people about the dangers of buying potentially dangerous or useless unlicensed medicines sold by illegal online suppliers.<\/p>\n<p>Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/fakemeds\">www.gov.uk\/fakemeds<\/a> for tips on buying medicines safely online and how to avoid unscrupulous sites.<\/p>\n<div class=\"contact postal-address\" id=\"contact_2345\">\n<div class=\"content\">\n<h3>Media enquiries<\/h3>\n<div class=\"vcard contact-inner\">\n<p class=\"adr\">\n<span class=\"fn\">News centre<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"street-address\">MHRA<br \/>\n<br \/>\n151 Buckingham Palace Road<br \/>\n<br \/>\nVictoria<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"locality\">London<\/span><br \/>\n<span class=\"postal-code\">SW1W 9SZ<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"email-url-number\">\n<p class=\"email\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Email<\/span><br \/>\n              <a class=\"email\" href=\"mailto:newscentre@mhra.gov.uk\">newscentre@mhra.gov.uk<\/a>\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">During office hours:<\/span><br \/>\n              020 3080 7651 (08:30 &#8211; 17:00)\n            <\/p>\n<p class=\"tel\">\n              <span class=\"type\">Out of office hours:<\/span><br \/>\n              07770 446 189 (17:00 &#8211; 08:30)\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"comments\">Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 5pm. For real-time updates including the latest press releases and news statements, see our Twitter channel at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/mhrapress\">https:\/\/www.twitter.com\/mhrapress<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People arrested as MHRA raid property with the assistance of Greater Manchester Police yesterday morning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=91576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=91576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=91576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=91576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}