A NEW illegal business is flourishing in Gibraltar as narco-style ‘couriers’ buy Ozempic legally on the Rock before reselling it on the black market in Spain.
An investigation by Spanish TV show El Programa de Ana Rosa has revealed that gangs of scammers on social media offer to cross the border into Gibraltar, where next-generation weight-loss drugs are cheaper, to pick up prescriptions for their Spanish customers – charging an extra fee for the service.
But once they return to Spain, they often fail to deliver the medication – and in a few confirmed cases, the drugs are sold on the black market instead, patients’ associations have reported.
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In Gibraltar, new-generation weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro can be bought in pharmacies for around €230, tax-free, compared with prices of up to €400 a month in Spain, where high demand and higher prices have fuelled illegal distribution.
Meanwhile, other groups on social media in Spain have begun sharing advice on where to obtain Ozempic or Mounjaro at the lowest cost – in some cases selling similar injectable weight-loss drugs from China, which are not authorised for use in Europe.
Authorities have confirmed the situation has been reported to the police and the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products, which are investigating possible fraud and public health risks.
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Mounjaro is an expensive treatment not covered by Spain’s public healthcare system.
Originally developed as a treatment for diabetes, it works by regulating appetite and slowing stomach emptying.
The drug is administered via a weekly injection and is intended as a long-term, even chronic, therapy.
High costs have driven some people to seek alternatives in Gibraltar and Andorra, where prices are significantly lower.
Others have turned to anonymous social media sellers offering surrogates sourced from China, with no medical oversight or approval for human use.
Patients’ associations have warned of orders worth thousands of euros from Chinese suppliers and increasingly organised smuggling networks.
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Shipments are often divided into small packages and routed through multiple countries before reaching Spain by road.
Health authorities emphasise that these medicines can only be sold with a prescription at licensed pharmacies, and any other route is illegal.
The European Medicines Agency and national regulators have warned of a rise in falsified or unauthorised products sold as next-generation weight-loss drugs.
These products are often marketed via fraudulent websites and social media, with no guarantees of quality, safety, or effectiveness.
Endocrinology and obesity specialists have stressed that using unregulated products can cause allergic reactions and infections, and that obesity is a complex condition that requires treatment by professional physicians and nutritionists.
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