A fitness influencer who flogs weight loss jabs on social media is a convicted drug dealer.
Mark Allen, 46, plugs peptides on his Weight Loss and Gym Gains page including Retatrutide, which is not approved for use in the UK. In 2018, Exeter Crown Court jailed him for two-and-a-half years for possession of crack cocaine and heroin with intent to supply.
The court heard he cooked up crack in a bedroom, and police found messages on his phone offering deals and boasting of “top quality” and “finest white and dark”. Allen now runs a garden fencing business and makes extra cash selling unlicensed weight loss and other health peptides.
View 4 ImagesAllen boasts of his weight loss when plugging peptides (Image: TikTok)
Like many sellers, he claims the substances are “not for human consumption.” But clips shared on TikTok and Instagram show him preparing a syringe with step-by-step instructions, including how to sterilise the vial.
In another, he refers to Retatrutide as “Rataloullie” in an apparent bid to get around the ban and tells his followers: “Amazing, no complaints – I was 118kg and I’m now 84kg, this stuff is on fire. Like, share and follow and I will sort you out.”
Many posts are captioned: #weightloss #energy #weighttransformation #peps. And he shares dramatic before and after weight transformation pics alongside the website link. His wife Becky promotes the peptides on a separate TikTok account which regularly features clips of Mark. One post features a snap of a vial captioned: “Breakfast”.
View 4 ImagesAllen was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for possessing crack and heroin with intent to supply
Alongside a photo of a woman in a bikini, she writes: “Struggling to lose weight? Always hungry? There is a solution – it’s called metabolic weight loss peptide.” When approached by us, Allen immediately deleted his TikTok account and said: “We categorically reject any suggestion our business operates unlawfully.”
He has since set up a new page under a slightly different name. In a separate response, Becky told our reporter: “You are the lowest of the low.”
Retatrutide is an experimental, once-weekly injectable medication currently undergoing Phase three clinical trials for obesity and type 2 diabetes. In the UK, you do not need a license to sell retatrutide and most peptides as long as they are classified and sold strictly as research use only laboratory compounds.
Selling retatrutide on social media is illegal in the UK, as it is an unlicensed drug that cannot be marketed or supplied for human use under the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. Many users get around the ban by claiming the chemicals are for research purposes only.
View 4 ImagesAllen features in a clip preparing a syringe (Image: TikTok)
Ashton Collins of government-backed watchdog Save Face said: “We’ve seen a sharp and deeply worrying surge over the past six months in people reporting serious problems after buying injectable peptides online. Most are being pushed on TikTok by unscrupulous sellers who try to dodge the rules by labelling them ‘not for human use’ and ‘for research purposes only,’ while blatantly marketing them for cosmetic and performance use.
“In doing so, they are openly breaking UK medicines law on the supply and promotion of prescription‑only and unlicensed products. Other countries are already seeing the consequences. In Australia, specialists are warning of abnormal moles and potential skin cancer risks linked to tanning peptides like Melanotan II being bought online and self‑injected.
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“That is a clear warning of where this trend can lead. If the Government does not move quickly and decisively to shut this down, this will not remain a niche problem – it will escalate into a full‑blown public health crisis.”