Over 700 bottles of Codeine Cough Syrup seized, 2 arrested
Mumbai: In the latest bust, more than 700 bottles of codeine cough syrup were seized in Mumbai's Malwani area on Tuesday, an official said.
Along with the seizure, two individuals- Naved Abdul Hamid Batatawala (27) and Rizwan Wakeel Ansari (29) were arrested by the police, according to PTI.
Batatawala and Ansari were booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The Malwani seizure adds to a troubling string of similar busts across India in recent months. In April, the Prohibition and Excise Department, in coordination with the Drugs Control Administration, Telangana, busted an illegal network involved in the diversion and sale of Codeine-based cough syrups for abuse in Hyderabad.
Read also: Illegal diversion of codeine cough syrups busted in Hyderabad, 3 arrested
In February, 1,500 bottles of banned cough syrup worth Rs 30 lakh seized by a joint team of GRP and RPF from Agartala railway station and arrest of nine persons was made. Around the same time, Five persons were also arrested for illegally possessing a large quantity of bottles of two banned cough syrups worth Rs 31.75 lakh in Thane district of Maharashtra. Another significant haul occurred in Bhopal, where drugs having an estimated value of Rs 1 crore seized from Jain's godown in Dawa Bazar, and three persons were arrested allegedly in this connection.
Read also: Banned cough syrup worth Rs 30 lakh seized in Tripura, 9 arrested
In January, The Border Security Force (BSF) South Bengal Frontier seized 62,200 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup worth over Rs 1.4 crore in Nadia district along the India-Bangladesh international border. Around the same time, Assam Police seized more than 11000 bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup valued at Rs two crore from a vehicle near Damcherra.
Read also: Codeine-based cough syrup worth Rs 2 crore seized in Assam
