UP Police Bust ₹57-Crore Codeine Syrup Racket, FIR Against 14 Including Kingpin Duo
Massive illegal codeine trade busted across Eastern India.
Uttar Pradesh Police have registered a major FIR against 12 medical store owners and and two primary conspirators for orchestrating a sophisticated illegal trade involving more than 37 lakh bottles of addictive codeine-based cough syrup worth approximately Rs 57 crore, marking a significant blow to organised pharmaceutical crime in the region.
The case was filed at Kotwali police station following a detailed complaint by Drug Inspector Rajat Kumar Pandey, who named alleged kingpin, Shubham Jaiswal and his father Bhola Prasad, as the masterminds behind the operation that systematically diverted restricted narcotic medicines for black-market distribution across state borders.
Investigations by the Food Safety and Drug Administration revealed that the contraband, procured from a Ranchi-based pharmaceutical company, was falsely documented as sold within Uttar Pradesh districts through fabricated invoices and digital records, while the consignments were actually smuggled to Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal where codeine syrup is in high demand for recreational abuse.
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The racket came to light after authorities intercepted a truck carrying thousands of bottles in Ghaziabad, triggering an intensive week-long statewide enforcement drive from November 12-19 that exposed widespread manipulation of stock registers, billing software, and prescription records by the implicated medical stores to conceal the illegal diversion.
City Superintendent of Police Kaustubh has constituted a dedicated three-member Special Investigation Team to probe deeper into the financial network, identify additional accomplices, and dismantle the supply chain, as law enforcement intensifies its crackdown on the illicit trade of pharmaceutical narcotics that continues to fuel addiction and organised crime across eastern India.
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