Officers of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) intercepted a Tata Intra pickup truck near the Rajendranagar Terminal Railway Station and recovered 7,500 bottles of ESkuf, a Codeine Phosphate and Triprolidine Hydrochloride-based cough syrup in Bihar's capital Patna. The operation was launched following specific intelligence about an attempt to divert a large consignment of the controlled substance. Two persons present in the vehicle were detained after they produced a consignment note and invoices linked to the shipment. A quick verification by investigating officers revealed that the drug licence of the mentioned consignee had already been cancelled. It was also found that the firm mentioned in the documents did not exist at the stated location.
Follow-up investigation underway
The recovered cough syrup and the pickup truck were seized after completing legal procedures. The two apprehended individuals were arrested under the applicable sections of the NDPS Act, 1985. Officials noted that the action forms part of the agency's sustained efforts to curb cross-border and domestic trafficking of narcotic and psychotropic substances. Authorities are now examining the broader network linked to the illegal supply chain, including financial routes and the possible involvement of additional firms and people.
What did the CDSCO official say?
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) conducted an audit of almost 90 per cent of cough syrup manufacturers in the country, and it hopes to eliminate the "rot" in cough syrup by next season, a top official told news agency PTI.
Speaking at the 11th edition of the Global Pharmaceutical Quality Summit in February this year, he also said that the companies' sites are now being audited by both the state and the Central regulator under the revised norms for good manufacturing practices and requirements.
"We practically audited more than 90 per cent of cough syrup manufacturers in this country. There are about 1,300 plus manufacturers who were manufacturing cough syrups, and till now we have audited 1250 of them physically going to their site, and as we do in risk-based inspection, we took serious actions on serious non-compliances," Drugs Controller General of India, Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, said.
