Following an exclusive investigation by the "Weekly Quality Report" last November, which exposed the rampant underground trade of illegal "viral weight-loss injections," Guangzhou police swiftly formed a special task force. Using leads from the program, authorities conducted a months-long deep investigation that successfully dismantled a major criminal network producing and selling counterfeit medical beauty products across multiple regions. The operation led to the arrest of 55 suspects, the seizure of over 40,000 illegal injections, and involved amounts reaching 150 million yuan.
Products marketed as "Fate Protein" or "Ultimate Slim King" were packaged as viral "slimming shots," promising effortless weight loss without diet or exercise, attracting many consumers. However, some users suffered severe health damage after injections.
Ms. Chen from Suzhou, Jiangsu, recounted: "My pulse stopped. I was unconscious during subsequent blood draws, resuscitation, and atrial fibrillation procedures. When I woke up, my boyfriend told me how serious it was—I was nearly issued a critical condition notice."
Ms. Chen's case is not isolated. Previous investigations revealed these "slimming shots," sold through unofficial channels for prices ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan, often contained illegally added drug ingredients like semaglutide upon laboratory analysis. To trace the source, reporters visited multiple shipping locations in and around Guangzhou. Curiously, addresses on courier slips for offices or warehouses were all fictitious.
Police in Guangdong took notice of these deceptive tactics, including fake addresses and cross-city logistics designed to evade detection. Based on clues from the "Weekly Quality Report," they conducted months of surveillance. A raid on a standalone villa in Qingyuan, Guangdong, uncovered a black workshop illegally producing "slimming shots," housing three linked gangs.
Officer Lin Songtao from the Economic Crime Investigation Brigade of Guangzhou Nansha District Public Security Bureau explained: "Each gang used one room for production, labeling, and online sales via e-commerce platforms."
In another residential building, police shut down two additional dens. These criminals operated in small teams of two or three people, sharing supply sources and handling labeling, packaging, and sales in a complete, organized chain.
A joint operation between Guangzhou and Qingyuan police dismantled 10 illegal production and sales dens for "slimming shots," seizing over 40,000 illegal products containing ingredients like semaglutide and tirzepatide, valued at 150 million yuan. Over 10 associated fake online stores were also shut down.
Suspects purchased unlabeled bottles of semaglutide from upstream channels, applied simple labels, and packaged them as products like "Ultimate Slim King 5th Generation," "Liquid Weight Loss King," and "T30 Essence" for sale on e-commerce and social platforms. They initially offered extremely low prices online to attract customers, then redirected them to personal WeChat accounts for offline transactions.
Officer Lin detailed the tactic: "They set very low prices to attract consumers. When asked why prices were so low, they claimed promotions or new store openings, then asked customers to add WeChat, offering extra bottles as incentives to build a client base."
These black-market injections, costing only about 10-20 yuan to produce, were sold to beauty salons and wellness centers, where prices were marked up tenfold or more before reaching consumers. Salons might charge 200-300 yuan per injection, despite purchasing them for just 15-25 yuan.
Police warn that semaglutide is a prescription drug requiring a doctor's prescription and supervision; illegal production and sales are strictly prohibited. All 55 suspects have been placed under criminal coercive measures. This case not only severed multiple counterfeit drug operations but also served as a warning against blindly following viral injection trends.
Many customers reported dizziness, vomiting, and weakness after injections. Officer Lin attributed this to unregulated production in black workshops with poor quality control.
Behind the glamorous packaging of these online-hyped "Ultimate Slim Kings" lay products from dirty, substandard underground workshops. As the investigation deepened, police traced the source of these illegal toxins up the profit chain to individual raw material suppliers with formal qualifications.
Guangzhou police purchased over 10 types of slimming injections from 10 online stores. Tests confirmed the lyophilized powders contained semaglutide, tirzepatide, and other drug ingredients. Through seller chat and transaction records, police identified suspect Fu, who supplied raw materials to multiple "slimming shot" stores.
Officer Liu Jianhua from the Economic Crime Investigation Brigade of Guangzhou Zengcheng District Public Security Bureau noted: "Fu's factory only had cosmetics production credentials, not pharmaceutical manufacturing qualifications."
Fu's company, Guangzhou某医药生物科技有限公司, a legitimate cosmetics enterprise in Huadu District, Guangzhou, primarily engaged in cosmetics production and bio-chemical product R&D. Police confirmed the unlabeled bottles were raw materials for producing "slimming shots."
Officer Liu highlighted: "A small bottle of raw material can produce numerous slimming injections."
Investigation revealed Fu, leveraging his role as actual controller of a pharmaceutical company, long purchased raw materials like semaglutide from other provinces. To evade oversight, Fu created multiple "buffer zones" in the supply chain: raw materials were first shipped to intermediaries via cross-province couriers, then relayed to warehouses through intra-city logistics like Meituan跑腿 and货拉拉. By adding transfer points and obscuring financial and logistics trails, Fu attempted to launder his illegal activities.
The criminal group, centered around Fu, used legitimate cosmetics production as a cover to purchase chemical raw materials from intermediaries and illegally add them to products. Alarmingly, the group not only added known prescription drugs but also kept up with international pharmaceutical R&D, continuously "upgrading" products—from semaglutide and tirzepatide to the latest third-generation ingredient, retatrutide, a clinical trial drug not approved domestically or abroad.
Dr. Zhang Rui, Deputy Chief Physician of Endocrinology at Peking University People's Hospital, stated: "Retatrutide is not yet marketed. It's a triple-target receptor agonist, but trial results aren't fully disclosed. Such drugs are prescription-based with specific indications for weight loss."
Experts warn that illegally produced weight-loss drugs carry high safety risks. Poor production environments lead to uncontrolled concentration ratios, ingredient purity, and sterility, posing irreversible health hazards.
Dr. Zhang added: "Improper injection risks infection, allergies, and incorrect drug ratios causing overdose toxicity—all significant safety hazards."
Fu's company had a prior record: in July 2025, it was administratively penalized for failing to provide cost details for products like lyophilized powder and hyaluronic acid. Despite this, Fu continued producing weight-loss lyophilized powder for downstream businesses.
Officer Liu explained: "A set of saline solution and lyophilized powder costs at most 10 yuan, but sold to intermediaries and then beauty salons, prices reach 100-200 yuan. After markups, consumers may pay over 1,000 yuan."
Production doses were adjusted based on feedback: if salons reported inefficacy, factories arbitrarily increased dosages. To evade detection, the group shipped products sporadically—in small batches of a few or dozens of sets—and even attempted underground exports.
Officer Liu noted: "Their scattered shipments and overseas sales made tracking flows highly labor-intensive."
Ultimately, police raided a large factory covering over 9,000 square meters in Guangzhou's Huadu District, seizing three production lines with multiple vacuum freeze-drying equipment, along with large quantities of retatrutide raw materials, weight-loss lyophilized powder, and injection instruments.
Combating illegal "slimming shots" requires a full-chain effort. While judicial authorities crack down on crimes, customs agencies nationwide tighten port controls to prevent smuggling of unauthorized, unverified injections.
In recent years, cases of smuggling "tirzepatide" injections have occurred at multiple ports. At the end of 2025, Wuhan Tianhe Airport Customs officers detected anomalies in a passenger's luggage during inbound flight inspections. A search uncovered 3,550 unpackaged, un-certificated "slimming shot"仿制剂 from Bangladesh. The passenger admitted to earning a 2,000-yuan fee for successful delivery.
Some criminals attempt to smuggle unspecified "slimming shots" via personal concealment. At Guangzhou Baiyun Airport in 2025 alone, customs intercepted 54 cases of concealed needle smuggling, seizing 17,700 injections—mostly tirzepatide, with some semaglutide. Shockingly, this year, seizures at the airport already reached 24,200 injections, surpassing last year's total.
Deputy Section Chief Guo Dong of Baiyun Airport Customs noted: "We observed inbound passengers appearing nervous, avoiding eye contact, walking stiffly, or wearing thick clothes in summer. When questioned, they gave inconsistent answers. Further checks revealed needles concealed on their bodies—dozens or hundreds stacked, wrapped in plastic bags and taped to waists or legs, without冷链保温 measures."
Needles were often purchased from local pharmacies or via helpers abroad, intended for resale or paid delivery into the country.
Despite intensified oversight, driven by huge profits, these illegal products undergo a "metamorphosis." Investigators found that exposed "viral slimming shots" haven't disappeared from some e-platforms but reappear under new names like "One-Shot Slim" and "Fate Protein," still luring consumers desperate for rapid weight loss.
Reporters found products like "Black Gold Fate Protein" and "One-Shot Slim" still openly sold on multiple e-platforms. To avoid platform monitoring, sellers hinted at adding WeChat for transfers. To reassure buyers, they included instructional videos for self-mixing lyophilized powder with saline. Alarmingly, sellers also "gifted" syringes and needles.
To verify the products, reporters ordered 10 "slimming shots" from different channels. Comparisons showed they were identical to illegal agents bought in last November's investigation—typical "three-no" products with no production date, quality certification, or manufacturer. Logistics tracing revealed distribution hubs nationwide, including Putian (Fujian), Sichuan, Changchun (Jilin), and Nanchang (Jiangxi). This decentralized, multi-point shipping network poses significant challenges for eradication.
Semaglutide and tirzepatide are currently prominent injectable diabetes drugs noted for significant weight-loss effects alongside血糖 control. Experts stress these drugs have specific eligible populations and are not for casual use. Chinese clinical practice typically requires a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 24 (overweight) or higher.
Dr. Zhang Rui advised: "For those not overweight, drug weight control is unnecessary. Suppressing appetite via drugs can cause overly rapid weight loss in non-obese individuals, leading to underweight issues—especially problematic with age, as low weight and muscle loss reduce immunity. Using drugs purely for aesthetics isn't recommended and carries risks, as clinical trials didn't include normal-weight subjects."
Currently, many consumers blindly seek shortcuts promising "no exercise, no diet, one-shot results" through illegal products. Experts emphasize that any medication should be obtained and used via正规渠道 under professional guidance to avoid irreversible harm.
Dr. Zhang added: "Legitimate weight-loss drugs are becoming cheaper. There's no need to use non-standard products when affordable,正规 options are available."
Driven by profit, counterfeit methods for illegal slimming shots continually evolve. Particularly concerning, some criminals smuggle unverified foreign clinical trial drugs into the country—products with completely unknown safety and efficacy, presenting uncontrollable risks.
Consumers are reminded: - Any weight-loss treatment must strictly follow medical advice. - Be wary of "shared marketing" rhetoric on social platforms. -正规医疗渠道 never engage in "private sales." - Always consult doctors for weight loss; do not let your body become a testing ground for criminals. Protect your health.
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