2 September 2025
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is warning criminals that they face prison as it cracks down on the illicit trade in unlicensed botulinum toxin products, commonly referred to as Botox, used in cosmetic procedures.
The MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit has launched a number of criminal investigations following a spike in hospital admissions believed to be linked to the use of unlicensed botulinum toxin products.
Between 4 June and 6 August 2025, 41 confirmed cases of botulism - a rare but potentially life-threatening condition causing paralysis - were reported across several regions in England, including the North East, East Midlands, East of England, North West, and Yorkshire and Humber.
The Criminal Enforcement Unit has seen evidence that some sellers and practitioners - often untrained - are obtaining unlicensed botulinum toxin products illegally and offering injections in unsafe, unregulated settings. The treatments are being delivered in informal settings such as domestic bedrooms and kitchens, hair salons, and through mobile beauty services. Members of the public are often lured in by adverts on social media promising quick, cheap results.
The Criminal Enforcement Unit is investigating the illegal trade in these products. Anyone caught selling or supplying unlicensed botulinum toxin faces up to two years in prison and unlimited fines under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.
This crackdown is part of the MHRA's wider work to disrupt illegal botulinum toxin supply. Since May 2023, the Criminal Enforcement Unit, working closely with its partners in Border Force, has seized more than 4,700 vials of unlicensed botulinum toxin both at the border and inland.
Almost all of the seized products originated in South Korea, including brands such as Botulax, reNTox, Innotox, and Toxpia, which are not authorised for sale in the UK.
The Criminal Enforcement Unit also works with social media companies to remove illegal listings and disrupt criminal networks advertising unlicensed botulinum toxin.
(Source: Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, 30 August 2025)
For more information on age restrictions in England (there is currently no equivalent law in Wales or Scotland), please see 'Botox and cosmetic fillers'.