Underground networks trafficking weight-loss medications emerge across Scandinavia as prescription restrictions fail to curb demand
Europe’s pharmaceutical black market has found a lucrative new product line in 2025: diabetes medications repurposed for weight loss. As legitimate supply chains struggle to meet demand, illicit trade networks across Nordic countries are capitalizing on the gap between soaring demand and restricted access.
Cross-Border Medication Trafficking Intensifies
Swedish authorities report a 340% increase in intercepted pharmaceutical shipments at border crossings with Denmark, where Novo Nordisk’s manufacturing facilities produce the coveted GLP-1 medications. These interceptions reveal sophisticated smuggling operations moving products through the region’s relatively open borders.
A new study published in the journal JAMA Network Open revealed that more than 40 per cent of online pharmacies selling weight loss drugs were illegal operations. Researchers who purchased products from six of these sites found only half actually delivered anything, with all showing evidence of being “unregistered or unlicensed.”
“One sample had elevated presence of endotoxin indicating possible contamination, although no viable microorganisms were detected,” the study found. The active ingredient, semaglutide, was present but “with considerably lower purity levels”—tests showed levels between 7 and 14 per cent compared to the 99 per cent advertised. Even more concerning, the amount of semaglutide exceeded the labelled amount in each sample by 29 to 39 per cent.
The researchers also highlighted that “US poison centres have reported a 1,500 per cent increase in calls related to semaglutide.”
Intelligence reports suggest that diverted supply chain products—ranging from legitimate pharmaceuticals redirected from hospitals to counterfeit versions manufactured in Eastern Europe—are flowing through Nordic countries before distribution across the continent.
Digital Underground Facilitates Distribution
The Nordic drug trade has rapidly modernized, with encrypted messaging apps and cryptocurrency payments becoming standard procedure for transactions involving Ozempic and similar medications.
Law enforcement monitoring of online marketplaces has identified over 45 vendor accounts specifically offering weight loss medications without prescriptions, many operating from servers based in Finland and Sweden.
“We have definitely seen a surge in sales over the past 12 months,” notes a pharmacist from Finnish e-pharmacy Olo-apteekki. “I can only imagine the volume of illegal Ozempic sales in Finland.”
Economic Impacts Beyond Pharma
The expanding gray market has created complex economic ripple effects across the region. Insurance fraud cases have spiked as individuals seek reimbursement for medications obtained outside legitimate channels.
Copenhagen’s financial intelligence unit has flagged unusual cross-border financial flows connected to pharmaceutical trafficking, with estimates suggesting the illicit Ozempic trade alone may represent a €2.3 billion underground economy across the Nordic region.
Regulatory Response Lags Behind
Nordic regulatory bodies have struggled to develop coherent responses to this emerging threat. While Denmark has implemented stricter supply chain monitoring due to its position as Novo Nordisk’s home base, neighboring countries have been slower to adapt.
Norway has established a specialized pharmaceutical trafficking task force, but Sweden and Finland continue to address the issue through existing drug enforcement frameworks—approaches critics argue are insufficient for the unique challenges posed by prescription medication trafficking.
“The reality is that our regulatory frameworks were designed for traditional narcotics, not prescription medications with legitimate medical uses,” explains Lars Henriksen of the Nordic Council’s drug policy advisory group. “We’re essentially playing catch-up with criminal networks that recognized this market opportunity before policymakers did.”
As legitimate manufacturing capacity expands and more competitors enter the market, some analysts predict the gray market will eventually contract. Until then, the Nordic region remains at the center of Europe’s most profitable pharmaceutical black market.
