New Delhi: In a major crackdown on drug-linked money laundering, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested a pharmaceutical businessman accused of siphoning off nearly 75% of his psychotropic drug stock to the black market and generating Rs 3.75 crore in illicit proceeds.
According to a recent media report in the Hindustan times, officials confirmed that the seized evidence exposes a coordinated interstate supply chain involving controlled medicines such as tramadol and alprazolam, diverted far outside legal channels. The accused, Abhishek Kumar, was produced before the special PMLA court in Mohali, where he was remanded to six days of ED custody. Investigators allege that Kumar played a key role in procuring psychotropic drugs and funneling them into illegal distribution networks through his firm.
The ED initiated the money-laundering investigation based on an FIR registered by Punjab Police under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act concerning interstate trafficking of psychotropic tablets and capsules, all of which are tightly regulated under Indian law.
In June this year, ED teams carried out searches at 16 premises linked to Abhishek Kumar and his associates. The searches yielded significant documentary and digital evidence pointing to large-scale diversion of controlled substances, unrecorded transactions and undisclosed stock movement.
The probe revealed that various middlemen, retail distributors and wholesalers were sourcing psychotropic medicines from multiple pharmaceutical manufacturers — including Biogenetic Drugs Pvt Ltd, CB Healthcare, Smilax Pharmachem Drug Industries, Aster Pharma and Soul Health Care (I) Pvt Ltd — before diverting them into the illegal trade. These drugs were sold at inflated prices to peddlers, generating substantial profits outside legitimate supply chains.
According to the ED, Abhishek Kumar obtained these medicines in bulk through his firm, Shree Shyam Medical Agency, and then diverted about 75% of the stock to the black market. At this stage of the probe, officials told Hindustan Times that Kumar allegedly inflated legal invoice box counts to disguise differences between actual and recorded stock, enabling him to siphon off drugs illegally and accumulate ₹3.75 crore in proceeds of crime.
The ED stated the investigation is ongoing and forms part of its broader efforts to dismantle drug-trafficking and money-laundering networks operating across state borders.
