Overview
- Seventy-nine boxes of the weight‑loss drug Mounjaro, worth about £944,554, were taken from Phoenix Healthcare’s St Albans distribution site after a planned break‑in on 24 January 2026.
- The burglars forced entry through an air‑duct, sprayed internal cameras with black paint, removed stock from a walk‑in refrigerated unit, and returned less than two hours later to take more boxes.
- Hertfordshire police executed warrants and arrested Mark Harding, Robert Townsend and Peter Costello on 11 February, seizing vehicles and more than £60,000 in cash hidden at two homes.
- Investigators built the case with CCTV, phone location records and ANPR data showing the suspects and their vehicles near the site, and the three men pleaded guilty and were sentenced on 8 July 2026 to five years and three months each; Harding and Townsend received concurrent nine‑month terms for possessing criminal property.
- The stolen Mounjaro has not been recovered, prosecutors have opened proceeds‑of‑crime and asset recovery proceedings, and police warn the theft of refrigerated, high‑value drugs increases public‑health risks and may prompt tighter security and tracing efforts.