A relentless two-month statewide campaign by the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has led to the shocking exposure of a parallel, illegal supply chain worth a staggering Rs 704 crore. The operation was specifically designed to divert codeine-based cough syrups from legitimate medical use to widespread substance abuse and intoxication.
The Statewide Crackdown and Staggering Numbers
Acting on the direct orders of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the FSDA launched the drive to clamp down on the illegal storage, sale, distribution, and diversion of medicines classified as narcotics. The operation spanned 52 districts of the state, with inspections conducted at more than 332 wholesale drug establishments.
The investigation revealed an alarming scale of diversion during the 2024–25 period. The supply volumes were found to be catastrophically higher than any conceivable medical need. Specifically, the probe found that 22.39 crore bottles of Phensedyl (worth Rs 506 crore), 73.16 lakh bottles of Eskof (Rs 154.38 crore), and 24.87 lakh bottles of other codeine-based brands (Rs 43.77 crore) were supplied within Uttar Pradesh.
A Paper Trail to Nowhere: The Phantom Supply Chain
Officials discovered that these massive consignions of cough syrup never reached retail pharmacies or actual patients. Instead, they were channeled through a select network of super-stockists and a chain of wholesale firms that largely existed only on paper. Many of these firms were non-functional at their registered addresses, lacking storage facilities, actual stock, or any verifiable records of onward supply to retailers.
The FSDA concluded that these entities served merely as "billing points" to create a facade of legality and mask the illegal diversion. A completely parallel supply chain was uncovered, bypassing the standard manufacturer–distributor–retailer–patient route. The syrups moved from manufacturers to super-distributors and then into a web of wholesalers, after which the trail for legitimate medical distribution vanished. This clearly established that the products were diverted solely for narcotic intoxication.
Given that codeine phosphate—an opium-derived substance—is the active, abuse-prone ingredient, the FSDA brought the entire operation under the stringent Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Legal Action and Proposed Reforms
In one of the largest crackdowns of its kind in the state, FIRs were registered against 161 firms across 36 districts under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the NDPS Act, 1985. Key diversion hubs were identified in Varanasi, Saharanpur, Ghaziabad-Delhi, Kanpur, and Lucknow.
FSDA Secretary and Commissioner Roshan Jacob termed the issue a "regulatory failure" rather than isolated wrongdoing. She stated that proposals for long-term reforms have been sent to the state government and will be escalated to the Centre. These proposals include:
- Geo-tagging of wholesale premises.
- Mandatory verification of storage capacity.
- Stricter scrutiny of experience certificates used for obtaining wholesale licences.
- Volume caps on the manufacturing and distribution of codeine-based products.
Jacob emphasized that the core problem lies in a parallel distribution channel created immediately after manufacturing, which bypasses authorised depots. "This cannot be fixed at the wholesale level alone. It requires intervention at the manufacturing and national regulatory level," she said, adding that recommendations were forwarded to Union health authorities. The wholesale licences of all the implicated firms have been cancelled.
In a significant internal action, show cause notices were also issued to department officers, including six drug inspectors and three additional commissioners, for laxity. These will be converted to departmental proceedings.
No Contamination Scare in UP
In a separate but related assurance, the FSDA clarified that no incidents linked to diethylene glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol (EG) contamination—as reported earlier from some other states—occurred in Uttar Pradesh. As a precaution, 1,017 cough syrup samples were lifted from manufacturers, government hospitals, and retailers across the state. Laboratory tests confirmed that none contained DEG or EG impurities.
