Gandhinagar: State food and drugs control administration (FDCA) has taken action against four firms in Vadodara and Surat districts for allegedly illegally storing and selling drugs. The licences of two firms have been cancelled, an official statement said on Thursday.
Based on the information provided by the Maharashtra unit of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), a joint raid was conducted at Chamunda Pharma in Karjan of Vadodara district, the statement said.
“During the inspection, 13,938 bottles of Anarex (codeine), a cough syrup, which falls under the NDPS Act, worth an estimated Rs 27.8 lakh, and 12,240 tablets of Tramadol worth an estimated Rs 50,000 were seized,” the statement said. The firm was sealed for serious violations of the law, and its sale licences under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act were cancelled with effect from Oct 1, the govt said.
In another inspection at Majisa Medical Stores in Karjan, which was associated with Chamunda Pharma, a stock of Lomotil tablets containing a component covered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act was found, the release said. “A show-cause notice was issued for these violations, and the firm’s licence for the retail sale of drugs was cancelled with effect from Oct 5,” the release said.
A raid was also conducted on Oct 1 at Dermatics India in Varachha, Surat. The investigation found that the firm was selling drugs through its website without any valid licence, the statement said. A stock of drugs including sildenafil, minoxidil and ketoconazole, worth more than Rs 11.3 lakh, was seized from the premises, the statement said.
In an inspection at Kyara International in Surat’s Mota Varachha on Oct 3, authorities found digital evidence of illegal sale of medicines worth Rs 3.6 lakh in just a month through online platforms under the false name ‘Sildenafil Ayurvedic’, the govt said in the statement.
