Father, son behind pharma drug cartel held

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 28

In one of the biggest crackdowns on the illegal manufacture-diversion-supply chain of pharmaceutical opioids in the country, the Punjab Police today announced the arrest of Krishan Kumar Arora, alias ‘Clovidol’ Badshah, and his son Gaurav Arora of Neutec Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Narela, Delhi.

Biggest suppliers of opioids: Punjab police

•  Drugs were allegedly manufactured above sanctioned quota. Front firms were created for wholesale/retail and shut after three months to evade scrutiny
• A network of transporters/couriers supplied consignments, often delivered without bill or with fake invoices of genuine firms. Transporters got 3-4 times the normal rates
• To evade scrutiny, shipments were marked as ‘carrying surgical equipment’. Neutec Ltd used own vehicles for delivery

DGP Dinkar Gupta said the two were one of the biggest manufacturers and suppliers of pharmaceutical opioids in the country and were illegally supplying/diverting 18-20 crore tablets, capsules and syrups, worth Rs 70-80 crore, across 17 states every month through drug supply gangs, including Mathura and Agra gangs, that were busted recently. The two were the masterminds of the ‘pharma drug cartel’ that controlled a major share (almost 60-70%) of the illegal trade, he said.

The two were arrested from Rajouri Garden in Delhi yesterday by a team of the Barnala police, comprising Mehal Kalan ASP Pragya Jain and CIA in charge Baljit Singh, under the supervision of SSP Sandeep Goel.

The network began to unravel with the busting of the Mathura and Agra gangs by the Barnala police in February, followed by major seizures and arrests in May and July. So far, as many as 36 persons had been arrested and 73 lakh intoxicating tablets/capsules/syrup bottles and Rs 2.26 crore seized across five states, said the DGP.“Sustained investigations led to the unmasking of the linkages of the nexus and further revealed the involvement of various pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, including Neutec Pharmaceutical Pvt Ltd, Narela, Delhi, which is one of the biggest manufacturers of NRx (prescription) drugs, such as Clovidol 100 SR, Trio SR, Simplex C+, Simplex +, Tridol, Foridol, Prozolam, Alprazolam, etc. These drugs are extensively abused as pharma opioids by drug addicts all over the country,” said Gupta.

The accused allegedly manufactured pharma drugs clandestinely over and above the sanctioned quota, and had created wholesale/retail firms in connivance with associates.

Some of these front firms included Santoshi Pharma, Jagdeesh Pharma, SS Agency, Jai Hanuman Phama, Mayank Drug House, etc. These front firms were often shut down after three-four months to evade scrutiny.

A network of transporters/ couriers, including Sri Ram Transport, Narela Transport, Annu Road Carriers, Malik Transport, Delhi Punjab Transport (all in Delhi), and Jai Bhole Transport, Aligarh Hathras, Devesh Transport, Lamba T, Radha Krishan Transport, Shreejee Roadlines (all in Agra), was created to facilitate the supply of drugs.

The consignments were often delivered without bill and transporters were paid three-four times the normal rates. In other cases, the consignments were transported on fake invoices of genuine pharmaceutical firms — Kalra Medicos, Janta Medicos, JMD Pharma, Medstone Ascelepius (all in Delhi), and VR Enterprises, Shri Kaila Devi Enterprises, Jai Hanuman Pharma (all in Agra), etc.

The police said to evade scrutiny by police and law enforcement authorities, the consignments were often marked as ‘carrying surgical equipment’. In addition, Neutec Healthcare Pvt Ltd used to deliver consignments through own vehicles. 

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