KENDRAPARA: Officials of the Drug Control department on Wednesday arrested an unlicensed pharmaceutical distributor and seized a huge stock of suspected counterfeit narcotic drugs, spurious medicines and fake medical devices worth Rs 10 lakh from his storehouse at Sunelo locality in Kendrapara town.
The fake drug racket was unearthed on Tuesday after officials raided the rented storehouse of accused Pradumya Lenka (39). The raid was conducted from Tuesday morning till night.
“The seized drugs include NRx drugs Pentazocine and Tramadol, and XRx drug Ketamine. For the first time, we also seized fake medical devices worth Rs 7 lakh during the raid,” said assistant drugs controller, Cuttack Circle-I Dharmadev Puhan.
Officials suspect that the network supplied counterfeit drugs, life-saving medicines, injections and medical devices to several hospitals and clinics in the district and nearby areas, allegedly offering them at discounts of around 50 per cent.
“These counterfeit drugs lack active medicinal ingredients and may contain harmful substances, posing a serious threat to public health. To deceive buyers and maximise illicit profits, the counterfeit labels featured QR codes that were found to be non-functional when scanned,” Puhan said and added that Lenka was running the illegal business for the last four years from the rented house at Sunelo.
The accused was produced in court and remanded in judicial custody.