Mounjaro Drug Theft
Three men jailed for highly organized £1 million Mounjaro drug theft in St Albans.
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Key Points
1
The theft unfolded in two phases: an initial break-in, followed by a second raid less than two hours later that involved removing more boxes of Mounjaro, totaling 79 boxes worth about £944,544.89.
2
Police recovered more than £60,000 in cash linked to the offence from Harding’s and Townsend’s homes, including £35,000 concealed in a picnic basket and £19,900 hidden behind an extractor fan.
3
Harding and Townsend received an additional nine-month prison term for possessing criminal property, to be served concurrently with their burglary sentences.
4
Harding was specifically linked to the burglary through distinctive clothing seen on CCTV both before the offence and inside the premises, tying him directly to the operation.
Three men have been jailed for five years and three months each for stealing nearly £1 million worth of the weight loss drug Mounjaro from a pharmaceutical distribution site in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Mark Harding, Robert Townsend, and Peter Costello carried out the raid on January 24, making off with 79 boxes of the in-demand drug worth £944,544.89, according to Yahoo News.
The burglary was described in court as highly organised and premeditated. Almost all of the stolen Mounjaro was never recovered, raising serious concerns it may have been sold on illicitly. All three were sentenced at St Albans Crown Court by Judge Jonathan Mann KC, AOL News reported.
How the Gang Broke Into the Distribution Site
The burglars struck in two waves on the same night. First, they climbed through a duct hidden behind an air conditioning unit and broke into a walk-in fridge. Less than two hours later, they returned to take even more boxes, according to Yahoo News.
CCTV footage showed the three men entering in a coordinated fashion, dressed in dark clothing. Townsend had scouted the site a week earlier, acting as a lookout on the night itself. Harding and Costello used a ledge to access the property while trying to dodge alarms, AOL News reported.
CCTV, Phone Records and ANPR Caught the Trio
Police linked all three men to the crime using a combination of CCTV footage, phone records, and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, according to Yahoo News. ANPR technology tracks vehicles on roads using cameras — it gave investigators a trail to follow.
Harding was caught out by his own clothing. Distinctive items he wore before the burglary were spotted on CCTV inside the premises, tying him directly to the break-in. The evidence left little room for doubt, Head Topics reported.
£60,000 in Cash Found Hidden Around the Home
When police searched the homes of Harding and Townsend, they found more than £60,000 in cash linked to the offence. Prosecutors said the money was connected to the burglary. The hiding spots were creative — and telling.
Officers found £35,000 stuffed inside a picnic basket and £19,900 hidden behind an extractor fan, according to Yahoo News. Harding and Townsend both admitted to possessing criminal property on top of the burglary charge. They received an extra nine-month sentence for that offence, to be served at the same time as their main sentence.
Nearly £1m of Mounjaro Still Missing and Unaccounted For
Of the £944,544.89 worth of Mounjaro stolen, almost none was recovered by police. Mounjaro is a weight loss injection that has surged in demand across the UK, making it highly valuable on the black market. The scale of what remains missing points to a wider distribution network, AOL News reported.
Investigators noted the size and planning of the operation. The court heard the burglary was not opportunistic — it was carefully premeditated. With the drugs still unaccounted for, police believe a significant amount of product may have already been sold on, according to Yahoo News.
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