Drug supply network busted, medical store owner arrested

The police busted a drug supply network in the outer Delhi area and arrested a medical store owner, officials said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Tushar Malhotra, a resident of Motia Khan, was apprehended following a raid in Paharganj on April 2.

The police said the action stemmed from a case registered at the Nihal Vihar police station on March 26 in which 3 persons were earlier arrested with contraband, including codeine syrup and buprenorphine tablets. During interrogation, an accused disclosed the source of supply.

Acting on the lead, a joint team of the police and drug inspector officials raided the medical store, seizing codeine-based cough syrup and psychotropic capsules as Malhotra failed to produce valid purchase records.

“A total of 60 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup and 296 Tramadol capsules were recovered from him,” the officer said. Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network. Notably, fixed dose combinations (FDCs) of codeine-based cough syrups, particularly those combined with chlorpheniramine maleate, are banned or strictly prohibited for manufacture and sale in India by the Centre due to high addiction potential and lack of proven safety.

These are prescription medicines that have codeine, an opioid drug derived from the opium poppy. They act on the brain’s cough-control centre to reduce the urge to cough and are used mainly to suppress severe, persistent coughs. Codeine is also used as a mild pain reliever.

Since codeine is converted into morphine in the body, these syrups can cause drowsiness, constipation, nausea, and in some people even slowed breathing, especially in children or when taken in high doses.