Telangana DCA officials bust gang selling Rs 26 lakhs worth counterfeit drugs from Uttarakhand

Hyderabad: A special team of the Drugs Control Administration (DCA) in Telangana raided various locations in Hyderabad on December 29 and busted a spurious/counterfeit drug racket pedalling fake antibiotics, hypertension and cholesterol medicines, analgesics and seized stocks worth Rs 26 lakhs.

The bust was done based on the intelligence gathered by the drug control officers regarding the entry of spurious drugs into Telangana from Kashipur in Uttarakhand.

Case details

According to police data, the special team raided the offices of a courier shipping company called Trackon Couriers Pvt. Ltd. regarding the shipping of spurious drugs to Hyderabad. The special team carried out raids at courier offices in Dilsukhnagar and Uppal.

They found details of two parcels weighing 14.5 kg and 13.34 kg marked as ‘Machine Parts’. They were booked at Kashipur in Uttarakhand by Amar Pharmaceuticals and were delivered to Puvvada Lakshman in Hyderabad.

The DCA officials, along with the police authorities, traced the location of Puvvada Lakshman through his mobile number and caught him at a bar near Shiva Ganga Theatre in Dilsukhnagar.

Then the DCA officials raided the Lakshman’s godown called Sri Venkateswara Enterprises in Disukhnagar and found stocks of spurious drugs received through courier from Kashipur. In the stocks, the officials found eight varieties of drugs worth Rs 26 lakhs and seized them.

Upon interrogation, Lakshman revealed the names of his accomplices Pokala Ramesh and Garapalli Purnachander of Saidabad who are involved in the spurious drug racket. He also revealed that he received spurious drugs from Nadeem of Uttarakhand.

After alerting the drugs control authorities of Uttarakhand regarding the shipment of spurious drugs, the special DCA team also raided the residences of Puvvada Lakshman, Pokala Ramesh and Garapalli Purnachander.

At their homes, they found spurious/counterfeit drugs which include fake medicines falsely labelled under the names of reputed companies like Sun Pharma (Rosuvas 10 Tablets – used in the treatment of High cholesterol), Glenmark Pharma (Telma H Tablets, Telma 40 Tablets – used in the treatment of Hypertension), Aristo Pharmaceuticals (Monocef-O 200 Tablets – an antibiotic), and Torrent Pharma (Chymoral Forte – used to relieve pain and swelling).

The DCA officials also found two varieties of antibiotics MPOD-200 tablets (Cefpodoxime Proxetil and Lactic Acid Bacillus tablets) and MEXCLAV 625 tablets (Amoxicillin and Potassium Clavulanate, Lactic Acid Bacillus tablets) during the raid which were labelled as manufactured by Meg Lifesciences in Himachal Pradesh which is found to be a non-existent company.

The DCA officers seized the spurious drugs and sent samples for analysis. Further investigation shall be carried out and action shall be taken as per the law against all offenders.

Public advisory

Spurious/counterfeit drugs are imitation products manufactured by antisocial elements concealing the true identity of the product and made to resemble drugs from a reputable company, especially some popular brand, to deceive the buyers.

The product may not contain the active ingredients. Spurious drugs are a major threat to public health. Spurious drugs place the patient’s health at grave risk. Spurious drugs not only fail to cure the disease but over time, create disastrous consequences for the patient.