Hyderabad: Counterfeit antibiotics racket busted by DCA

Hyderabad: The State Drugs Control Administration (DCA) busted a counterfeit antibiotics racket involving the shipping of ‘Hyderabad’ to the State from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. DCA seized fake antibiotics worth Rs 22.95 lakh.

On credible information, the intelligence gathered by the officers of DCA for the entry of spurious drugs into State through courier services, a special team of DCA kept vigil on various courier offices, including ‘Trackon Couriers Pvt Ltd.’ located in Uppal. The DCA officials identified the receipt of five cartons from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on December 30 in the name of Puvvada Lakshman, a habitual offender who is also accused in the spurious drug racket busted by DCA on December 29.

Since then, the DCA officials have kept the courier office of Trackon Couriers Pvt Ltd at Uppal under surveillance. The officials tracked the courier delivery boy, Suresh Kumar, who proceeded with the delivery of the consignment of five cartons on Wednesday. The officials followed the courier boy to a go-down at Dilsukhnagar.

The officials apprehended Puvvada Lakshman during the delivery of stock of five cartons containing spurious drugs at Sri Venkateswara Enterprises, Dwarakapuram, in Dilsukhnagar, which is an unlicensed premises.

They found spurious antibiotic ‘Cefoxim-CV Tablets (Cefpodoxime Proxetil and Potassium Clavulanate, Lactic Acid Bacillus Tablets)’ of quantity 51,000 tablets worth Rs 22.95 lakh in five cartons, which were labelled as manufactured by ‘Meg Lifesciences, Khasara No 47/5, Palli Gaon, Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh’ which is found to be a fictitious or non-existent company. Later, during interrogation, Puvvada Lakshman revealed the names of his accomplices, Pokala Ramesh and Garapalli Purnachander of Saidabad, who were involved in the spurious drug racket, and also revealed that he was supplying the spurious drugs to certain medical shops in the State.