Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government has intensified its campaign against the illegal drug trade across Uttar Pradesh.
Acting on the Chief Minister’s directives, the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has launched a large-scale operation targeting the unlawful storage, sale, and distribution of codeine-based cough syrups and narcotic drugs.
So far, the department has seized illegal drugs worth lakhs of rupees, registered 16 FIRs, and arrested six individuals. A total of 115 establishments have been inspected across the state, with 115 samples sent for laboratory testing. The sale of codeine-containing syrups and narcotic drugs has been banned at 25 medical stores pending further investigation.
Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration Dr. Roshan Jacob said here on Tuesday that, in accordance with the Chief Minister’s instructions, the FSDA is conducting a special statewide drive to curb the illegal trade of narcotic and psychotropic drugs. Raids have been carried out across several districts, leading to the seizure of significant quantities of contraband medicines and subsequent arrests under the NDPS Act.
On October 11, officials seized Phensypik T syrup worth ₹3 lakh from an illegal warehouse in Lucknow, arresting one person. On October 13, in Bahraich, drugs worth ₹30,000 were confiscated from Royal Pharma and Mamta Medical Agency, resulting in two arrests. On October 14, Tramadol capsules worth ₹68 lakh were recovered from the residence of Saroj Kumar Mishra, owner of Piyush Medical Agency in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Most recently, on November 4, around 1,200 bottles of codeine syrup worth ₹2 lakh were seized from New Roy Medical Agency in Lakhimpur Kheri, with one more person taken into custody. Raids were also conducted at the Lucknow depots of ARPIK and IDHIKA Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd., with their records seized for further scrutiny.
The FSDA has also initiated action against illegal billing and storage violations related to Phensypik T syrup and other NRx-rated drugs. Investigations revealed serious discrepancies in the records of IDHIKA Lifesciences Pvt. Ltd., leading to multiple FIRs across districts.
Among those booked are Shivam Kumar of Naimish Medical Store (Sitapur) under Sections 318(1) and 335 of the BNS, and the owner of Ajay Pharma (Rae Bareli) under Sections 318(2), 336(3), and 340(2). Cases have also been filed against Shri Shyam Pharma (Lucknow), Vinod Pharma (Sultanpur), and Ambika Healthcare (Unnao) for failing to produce valid records for over 1 lakh bottles of codeine syrup. In Kanpur Nagar, Maa Durga Pharma faced similar action for 40,000 missing syrups, alongside DMC Company (Banda) and several other firms, including Sisodiya Medicine House, A.S. Healthcare, R.S. Healthcare, Balaji Medical Store, and Ultra Fine Chemical (Jalaun).
Under Section 22(1)(d) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the FSDA has banned the sale of codeine-containing and narcotic drugs at 25 medical stores across Lucknow, Kanpur, Rae Bareli, Sitapur, Muzaffarnagar, Prayagraj, Varanasi, and Kaushambi for failing to produce proper records.
Simultaneously, the department is conducting intensive investigations in districts bordering Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, and Nepal to prevent cross-border smuggling of narcotic and psychotropic substances.
