VIJAYAWADA: Following directives from Health Minister Y Satya Kumar Yadav, the AP Drugs Control Administration (DCA) conducted inspections across 100 medical establishments, uncovering regulatory violations in 55 outlets linked to the illegal sale and diversion of Tramadol, a prescription opioid painkiller misused as a substitute.
While 53 outlets were flagged for procedural lapses, DCA officials uncovered major illegal transactions without records in Krishna and NTR districts. The crackdown, spearheaded by DCA Director General Arun Babu, was triggered by a discovery in Jeelugumilli village near Jangareddygudem.
Jangareddygudem Drugs Inspector P Mallikarjun traced an organised racket after finding discarded Tramadex and Tramec injection vials and used syringes in an oil palm plantation. Audits exposed unaccounted procurements by two agencies. Sri Lakshmi Srinivasa Medical Agency procured 20,000 Tramadol injections this year but produced no sales records. A raid on a friend’s carpentry shop in Jangareddygudem yielded 7,550 hidden vials intended for illicit distribution across Vegavaram, Medyanapu Varigudem, and Kukkunoor.
Simultaneously, D Rupa Peddinti Medical Agency procured 5,200 Tramec injections over two years. The agency produced invoices claiming 3,930 injections were sold to a Telangana pharmacy, which cross-state verification proved to be entirely fake to cover up unbilled local black-market sales.
Following a criminal complaint filed by the DCA, Jangareddygudem police arrested five individuals. The DCA has initiated formal proceedings to cancel the operating licenses of the offending agencies.