Massive Pharmaceutical Narcotics Racket Exposed in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh's Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has uncovered one of North India's largest illicit pharmaceutical diversion networks, a sprawling ₹150-crore criminal enterprise operating through sham chemist shops, benami billing points, and non-existent firms. The racket systematically weaponized codeine-based cough syrups as street narcotics, feeding a growing addiction economy across multiple states and international borders.
Staggering Scale of Criminal Operation
Authorities have registered FIRs against 87 firms across Uttar Pradesh under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and the NDPS Act, 1985, with drug licenses being cancelled systematically. While eight individuals have been arrested so far, investigators confirm this number represents only the beginning of the crackdown, with the alleged kingpin still at large.
The investigation reveals this wasn't casual malpractice but a structured criminal enterprise that transformed pharmaceutical narcotics into profitable street drugs. For years, codeine-based cough syrups intended strictly for controlled medical use quietly supplied an exploding underground addiction market.
Kingpin and Cross-Border Supply Chain
Investigators identified Varanasi-based pharmaceutical dealer Shubham Jaiswal as the alleged mastermind of a sophisticated cross-border syndicate built on fake firms, forged paperwork, and multi-state supply routes. According to police, Jaiswal—along with his father Bhola Prasad—engineered a high-volume pipeline moving codeine-laced cough syrup from warehouses in Ghaziabad and Varanasi to Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, and Nepal.
The operation used a maze of shell companies to disguise illegal consignments as legitimate pharmaceutical trade. During a raid in Sonbhadra on October 18, police recovered 12,000 bottles of codeine syrup camouflaged inside snack cartons. Truck drivers revealed the consignment originated from one of Jaiswal's fronts and was routed through his Ghaziabad contacts.
Investigations exposed the operation's mechanics: at least six firms existed only on paper, dozens of documents were forged, and Ranchi-based Shaili Traders was used for fake billing and interstate movement. Jaiswal sourced syrup from a Himachal Pradesh factory, stockpiled it in Ghaziabad, and pushed it through Agra, Lucknow, and Varanasi into eastern corridors and across borders.
Key Arrests and Expanding Investigation
The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) made a significant breakthrough on November 27, arresting major operative Amit Kumar Singh alias Amit Tata near Gwari Chauraha in Gomti Nagar. Police recovered an SUV, two phones, an Aadhaar card, ₹4,500 cash, and several network-linked documents.
According to STF, the cartel had been stockpiling and trafficking Fensidyl and other codeine-based syrups across UP, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, and West Bengal before smuggling consignments into Bangladesh. A joint STF-FSDA committee formed in February 2024 is probing the racket under an FIR lodged at Sushant Golf City police station.
Amit Tata's arrest followed November apprehensions of two Saharanpur operatives—Vibhor Rana and Vishal Singh—and revealed his seven previous criminal cases including attempted murder, Arms Act violations, and fraud. Tata confessed to joining the racket through Vikas Singh of Azamgarh, who connected him with alleged kingpin Shubham Jaiswal.
Statewide Crackdown and Disturbing Findings
The crackdown's epicenter is Varanasi, where 28 firms were booked, followed by Jaunpur (12), Kanpur Nagar (8), Lucknow (3), and 36 others across Sultanpur, Chandauli, Bahraich, Bhadohi, and Ghazipur districts. This web spans eastern, central, and western Uttar Pradesh.
In the first statewide crackdown on November 8, UP FSDA busted an organized supply network involving two sister marketing firms—Aarpik Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd and Idhika Lifesciences Pvt Ltd—based in Transportnagar, Lucknow. Authorities arrested five people and recovered large quantities of Phencypik-T syrup, a codeine phosphate-based drug frequently abused as a narcotic.
Investigations revealed both Lucknow-based firms were directly involved in unlawful manufacturing, supply, and diversion of codeine-based cough syrup through fake billing and illegal distribution chains. Both held valid drug sale licenses but misused them for profit by supplying large consignments through forged invoices.
Public Health Crisis and Institutional Response
The implications extend far beyond pharmaceutical violations. Narcotic cough syrup consumption has surged among teenagers, daily wagers, and rural youth, quietly fostering addiction cycles that rarely make headlines. These syrups are cheap, potent, and devastating, with illegal distribution funneling lakhs of bottles into black markets monthly.
A ₹150-crore diversion racket means crores of doses have already entered the system, altering lives, fueling addiction, and deepening public health vulnerabilities. Drug inspectors found outlets with no physical existence—just desks functioning as illegal billing points—zero purchase or sales records, improvised godowns storing codeine syrup cartons, fake ownership, and suspicious night-time consignments.
Principal Secretary Roshan Jacob has instructed all districts to intensify inspections and take strict action against illegal syrup distribution. FSDA officials emphasize the racket has deepened roots across eastern Uttar Pradesh extending to Bangladesh corridors, making it one of the most challenging networks to dismantle.
The real challenge begins now, requiring continuous surveillance of drug supply chains, digitized tamper-proof record-keeping, and uncompromising crackdowns on wholesale distributors enabling diversion through fake billing. Effective coordination with police, railways, and excise departments is crucial for tracking suspicious interstate consignments, while public awareness about codeine addiction dangers must strengthen to reduce demand.
Officials stress this battle cannot be won through sporadic raids alone—it demands institutional stamina, sustained vigilance, and long-term structural reforms to protect public health from organized pharmaceutical crime.
