The Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has seized counterfeit and illegally stored medicines worth around ₹ 4.5 crore in the past eight months while cracking an alleged interstate racket. The latest action on July 19 uncovered an alleged illegal warehouse where medicines worth ₹ 21 lakh were seized, officials said on Wednesday. The probe has led to 16 FIRs against 73 operators linked to 33 firms and traced the network across Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi and Gonda, with links to Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.
The probe later reached Selaqui in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. A joint UP FSDA and Ghaziabad Crime Branch team raided an alleged illegal manufacturing facility and found blister-packing machinery, pharmaceutical foils and counterfeit medicines bearing names of major drug companies. Material worth around ₹ 2 crore was seized and two people were arrested, officials said. Also Read I Phone’s digital trail helps cops trace ‘missing’ Lucknow boy after 5 months
In one case involving MK Pharma, officials detected suspicious billing of around ₹ 8.87 crore and an alleged illegal medicine trade worth nearly ₹ 39.20 lakh. Counterfeit medicines worth around ₹ 41.58 lakh were seized and seven FIRs were registered against 32 operators linked to 15 firms. Investigators found an alleged parallel documentary trail involving fake invoices, cross-billing and manipulated computer records, besides illegal warehouses and manufacturing and packaging facilities used to pass counterfeit medicines as genuine products. The investigation intensified after FSDA teams raided Aminabad, Qaiserbagh and Bakshi Ka Talab, where officials found discrepancies between medicine purchase and sale records and actual stock movement.
“The investigation, which began at the start of the year, has also led to the cancellation of licences for 76 wholesale drug establishments,” officials said. Officials said the investigation was continuing to identify other manufacturers, suppliers, financiers and distributors.
