Unlicensed 'Godzilla' fat jabs made in China and sold illegally in UK by middle-class dealers

Published: 00:01, 17 August 2026 | Updated: 00:08, 17 August 2026 Unlicensed 'Godzilla' fat jabs are being illegally sold on social media by middle class dealers, the Mail can reveal. Vast quantities of retatrutide, potentially the most powerful weight loss medication ever developed, are being flogged online despite concerns over its safety. Unlike Mounjaro or Ozempic, the drug is not licensed in the UK and is illegal to sell for human use. Yet an undercover Daily Mail reporter was able to buy five weeks' supply of retatrutide from a high-flying businesswoman with links to Cambridge University. The drugs are likely bootleg versions made by an industrial-scale Chinese laboratory, so come with serious health risks. But medical experts fear their warnings are being drowned out by social media hype – and turning otherwise respectable middle-class professionals into dodgy drug dealers. Today, a Daily Mail investigation into the illegal sale of retatrutide can reveal:  Entrepreneur Sheryl Cuisia, 48, sold five weeks' supply of knock of weight loss drug, retatrutide, to an undercover Daily Mail reporter for £55 Retatrutide – nicknamed the 'Godzilla jab' – is fast becoming the new must-have 'miracle' drug.  Personal trainers are reportedly dealing it to clients at gyms, while middle-class mothers trade boxes of the stuff outside school gates. It is being developed by Eli Lilly, the same drug company behind Mounjaro. Its popularity soared after trial results showed it could help users lose up to a third of their body weight. Sheryl Cuisia, the businesswoman who sold retatrutide to our reporter, is typical of the middle-class circles in which it is being used. The 48-year-old is an 'entrepreneur-in-residence' at King's College, Cambridge, in which she assists students with business ideas, has a Soho House membership and lives in a riverside penthouse in east London. She runs a website that sells a range of weight loss and beauty drugs for 'research use only'. Retatrutide is potentially more powerful than Mounjaro or Ozempic but it is not yet licensed in the UK. Pictured: The retatrutide that Cuisia sold to an undercover Mail reporter for £55 Cuisia runs a sleek website selling a range of weight loss and beauty drugs, supposedly made by Archangel Labs. However, the Mail could find no evidence of its existence This is a common disclaimer used by dealers in an effort to exploit a legal loophole that allows retatrutide and other drugs undergoing clinical trials to be sold for research purposes. Yet, when contacted by our reporter, Cuisia was quick to recommend retatrutide for weight loss, adding that it is 'one of the most promising next-generation obesity medicines currently in clinical development'. 'That's why so many people are leaning on it, including 'gym bros', bio hackers, and of course those seeking sustainable weight loss,' she said. In person, she also told our reporter how to inject the drug. Cuisia, who is originally from Toronto, Canada, said she had four to five 'vetted vendors' and used a dozen different drugs herself. 'I sound crazy,' she said. 'I want to live for like 150 years.' The MHRA has said that disclaimers do not protect sellers from enforcement action if they are still promoting the drugs for human use. It said in a statement: 'We disregard claims that products are for 'research purposes' if it is clear that such claims are being used as an attempt to avoid medicines regulations.' Buying or possessing the substances is not an offence. Cuisia's website states that her supplier is Archangel Labs, but the Mail could not find evidence of its existence. When our undercover reporter asked Cuisia where the drugs came from, she replied: 'Mostly from China.' The Mail contacted one Chinese lab posing as a potential wholesale distributor in the UK. The firm said it sold hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of weight loss drugs to the UK each month, including retatrutide. The Mail obtained footage from inside its sleek laboratory that showed workers clad head-to-toe in blue overalls processing countless chemicals through high-tech machinery. The facility covers 15,000 sq/m, including research buildings, eight workshops, four warehouses, and a 600 sq/m lab with two production lines for weight loss drugs. It has an annual production capacity of up to 350 tons. A price list showed that we could buy 70 10mg vials of retatrutide for $700 (around £525), with free shipping. Our undercover reporter bought a single 10mg vial from Cuisia for £45, plus £10 to premix it with bacteriostatic water. If Cuisia had bulk bought from a Chinese lab offering a similar deal, she could have sold 70 10mg vials to UK customers at up to £55 each, making a profit of more than £3,000 on a £525 purchase. Cuisia admitted that most knock off versions of retatrutide come from places like this, a huge Chinese lab pumping out vast quantities of weight loss medication that is sold onto the UK Many Chinese labs display test certificates claiming their drugs are safe. But those who buy retatrutide online cannot be certain that it is what it claims to be, or its potency. Forums are littered with posts citing elevated heart rates, as well as alarming changes to menstrual cycles among young women. And even the legitimate version of the drug is still undergoing testing. Early trials suggest reta might be more likely to trigger side effects, such as nausea, diarrhoea and constipation, than Mounjaro. The MHRA has recorded 105 reports of suspected retatrutide side effects and one death. The reports do not prove that the drug caused the adverse reaction, only that the patient was taking the drug at the time. Adam Taylor, Professor of Anatomy at Lancaster University, said risky drug-taking was being normalised among middle classes because health influencers are promoting the products on social media. 'These products are being promoted as safe by people with similar lifestyles, so they think it's worth giving a go,' he said. But he warned users risked turning themselves into 'lab rats'. He said: 'These drugs haven't gone through stringent safety checks so are not up to a standard where people should be injecting them. The risks are significant.' The MHRA has previously warned consumers not to be 'tempted by the online hype around retatrutide'. Head of the MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit, Andy Morling, said: 'Rogue sellers are driven by profit, not your safety, and the fake medicines they sell could put your health at serious risk.' The unit has carried out several raids on UK factories making illegal weight-loss drugs since October last year, when officers seized more than 2,000 unlicensed retatrutide and Mounjaro pens worth more than a quarter of a million pounds from a Northampton warehouse. Cuisia declined to comment when presented with the findings of our investigation.