Fake Mounjaro pens worth Rs 70 lakh seized from a Gurugram flat

In April 2026, Haryana drug control officers stopped a vehicle near DLF Phase-4 in Gurugram and found over 260 counterfeit Mounjaro injection pens inside. A raid on a residential flat in Sector 62 followed, bringing the total seizure to roughly Rs 70 lakh.

Two men were arrested at the scene: a medical representative and a cab driver working as a courier. Investigators traced the operation to a third person who allegedly ran the whole setup from a rented apartment.

How the fakes were made

The process was disturbingly simple. Raw peptide powder was ordered from Chinese vendors on Alibaba, mixed with water, and loaded into injection pens. Packaging was reproduced using a 3D printer. According to Reuters, the accused learned how to prepare the injections from Google searches and YouTube videos.

Drug control officers spotted the fakes through small but telling differences: wrong shades of blue and red on the boxes, typographical errors, and font mismatches compared to genuine Mounjaro. The pens had not been stored at proper temperatures, and needle sterility could not be confirmed.

Where they were sold

The counterfeit stock was sold through IndiaMART at about 27% below market price, with supply traced back to Bhagirath Palace, one of Asia's largest wholesale pharmaceutical markets in Delhi. Eli Lilly issued a nationwide alert and confirmed that none of the seized pens came from their authorized supply chain.

This wasn't even the full extent of the operation. The same group was simultaneously selling an unapproved tirzepatide injection under a made-up brand called "Toneup," marketed as a Japanese import. It had zero approval from the DCGI or any state drug authority.

In a separate case, Delhi Police filed an FIR against a Dubai-based Indian national accused of defrauding a US company of Rs 157 crore in a fake Ozempic deal. The buyer paid for 125,000 doses and received spurious drugs shipped from China.

Sources: Reuters · The Week · Business Standard · Deccan Chronicle