Health minister Katya Ivkova told reporters that more than 73 websites sell medicines illegally online, and over 30 of them mainly sell peptides.

The Chief Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDBOP) has also received reports. There are three cases, and in two of them penalty notices have already been issued. The law sets fines of around €38,000.

Ivkova said many people take peptides for a quick effect, mostly to lose weight, and do not know what substance they are taking. In Bulgaria, peptides cannot be bought through the legal channels for medicines.

Bogdan Kirilov, head of the Bulgarian Drug Agency, explained how checks work. The agency makes a test purchase together with the interior ministry and passes the papers to GDBOP. The aim is to identify the sellers, trace addresses and look at ways to block IP addresses, so that a fine can be imposed.

Kirilov said the main problem is that in 99% of cases the domains are hosted outside Bulgaria. He said this greatly limits the interior ministry's ability to cut off access to a site. Another difficulty is that many sites change their names or their links to other sites.

Kirilov also warned that anyone who orders from such sites has no guarantee of how the product was stored or what its quality is.

In the third case, interior ministry officers will summon the seller and issue a penalty notice.