A COTTAGE in a sleepy Sussex village is thought to have been at the heart of an illegal global trade in dangerous diet pills.

Police seized pills thought to be worth around £40,000 from the three-bedroom house in Wadhurst last week as part of a global crackdown on the illegal internet trade of medical products.

Investigators believe the cottage was a distribution centre for a website advertising ‘herbal’ diet pills that contained hidden sibutramine.

The substance has been withdrawn from sale in the UK amid claims it raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Officers believe the pills, called Lida Daidaihua, were imported from China and sent to customers via the local post office in Wadhurst.

The pills seized in Wadhurst were among £15.8 million worth of counterfeit and unlicensed medicines and devices seized in the U.K. on Thursday, a spokesman for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said.

The national haul included potentially harmful and illegally supplied slimming pills, erectile dysfunction tablets, anaemia tablets and narcolepsy tablets, as well as unlicensed foreign medicines and fake condoms.

Globally, £51.6 million worth of items from 115 different countries were seized in the crackdown co-ordinated with Interpol during June.

Operation Pangea VIII also targeted websites that selling counterfeit and unlicensed medicines, closing them down or suspending them.

In the UK, almost 6.2 million doses of falsified, counterfeit and unlicensed medicines were seized, MHRA said, while 1,380 websites were closed down, 339 of which were domestic sites.

MHRA head of enforcement, Alastair Jeffrey, said: "Criminals involved in the illegal supply of medical products through the internet aren’t interested in your health.

"They are interested in your money and are able to get this by selling you a potentially dangerous product, or by stealing your bank details.

“To protect your health, visit your GP, get a correct diagnosis and buy medicines from a legitimate high street or registered pharmacy which can trade online."