New Delhi– As India lights up for Diwali, a shadowy underworld of narcotic-laced medicines threatens to dim the festivities, with police across states unearthing stockpiles of codeine-based cough syrups and psychotropic tablets in a coordinated push against drug peddlers. From godowns in Maharashtra to rented hideouts in Bihar and street corners in Chhattisgarh, authorities seized thousands of illicit doses worth lakhs, arresting key players and vowing to dismantle networks preying on vulnerable youth amid rising addiction alarms.
In a high-stakes raid late Thursday night, Thane Crime Branch officers, acting on a tip-off, stormed a godown in Wagle Estate, seizing 3,618 bottles of codeine phosphate-laden cough syrup valued at ₹6.31 lakh. The contraband, meant for black-market sales in Bhiwandi to habitual addicts, lacked any valid licenses or prescriptions. Forty-six-year-old Mudabbir Gulam Ahmed Rais, a Bhiwandi resident, was nabbed on-site after failing to explain the stock’s origins; he confessed to sourcing it from absconding supplier Jibran Divkar, triggering a manhunt. Booked under NDPS Act sections 8(C), 22(C), and 29(B) alongside Drugs and Cosmetics violations, Rais highlights a probe into complicit medical stores flouting prescription rules for quick profits. “This syrup’s narcotic high is fueling a silent epidemic among workers and teens,” said a senior officer, linking it to broader Thane operations targeting festival-time spikes in demand.
The net widened Saturday in Bihar’s Naugachia, where the Prohibition and Excise Department’s swift action on secret intelligence led to a rented house in Garibdas Thakur Bari Colony, Bhagalpur district. Hidden in 115 cartons were 1,270 liters of banned codeine cough syrup—enough to intoxicate hundreds. Prime suspect Manjeet Kumar, a repeat NDPS offender from Maniyamoar with a prior jail stint, fled the scene, but inspectors like Pramod Kumar secured the haul for forensic analysis. Valued in crores potentially on the street, the syrup’s discovery underscores Bihar’s battle against entrenched smuggling rings, with calls for tighter border checks as Diwali smuggling surges. “These peddlers hide in plain sight, turning homes into depots,” Kumar noted, as teams intensify raids to nab Kumar soon under NDPS charges.
Further south in Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai, “Operation Vishwas” bore fruit Saturday evening when Jamul police encircled two suspects at Mangal Bazar in Chhavni, near Sinu Engineering Works, after reports of on-street sales. They recovered 2,805 Alprazolam tablets (psychotropic sedatives often mixed with codeine for amplified highs), ₹4,200 cash, and two mobiles from 23-year-old Bisanath Bagh of Rajiv Nagar and his unnamed minor accomplice—totaling ₹14,485 in street value. Bagh, the ringleader, and the juvenile were selling to eager buyers when cornered; Bagh faces judicial remand under NDPS sections 21(B) and 27(A), while the minor undergoes statutory proceedings. Jamul SHO Ramendra Singh hailed the bust as a deterrent: “Even minors are roped in—our drives will root out every link before the holidays.”
Health watchdogs decry these hauls as symptoms of a national crisis, where over-the-counter “remedies” morph into gateways for opioid abuse, claiming young lives yearly. With Diwali’s stress amplifying misuse, the Union Home Ministry urged states to amplify surveillance, while activists demand prescription-tracking apps and harsher store penalties. As families share sweets, these shadows remind: the real poison lurks not in sweets, but in unchecked vials.
