At present, cough syrups fall under Schedule K – a category meant for everyday, low-risk medical products that can be sold even in villages without requiring a full drug-sale licence. (Image for representation: X)

In a major crackdown on the illegal cough syrup trade, the Lucknow zonal office on Friday carried out searches at 25 locations across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gujarat, targeting premises linked to key accused Shubham Jaiswal and his associates.

The searches began around 7:30 am at locations connected to associates Alok Singh, Amit Singh, several cough syrup manufacturers accused of supplying codeine-based formulations for illegal trading.

Additionally, the residence and office of Vishnu Aggarwal, a Chartered Accountant (CA), are being searched for alleged financial links supporting the illegal trade.

The operations spanned Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaunpur, Saharanpur, Ranchi and Ahmedabad.

The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered on the basis of more than 30 FIRs filed over the past two months across multiple Uttar Pradesh districts, including Lucknow, Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Saharanpur and Ghaziabad. The cases relate to illegal stocking, transportation, trading and cross-border smuggling of codeine-based cough syrup.

Authorities estimate the proceeds of crime to exceed ₹1,000 crore. The prime accused, Shubham Jaiswal, is currently absconding and believed to be in Dubai. His father, Bhola Prasad, has been arrested.

So far, Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested 32 people in connection with the racket. The state government has also set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a coordinated probe into the case. The multi-state crackdown is among the most extensive actions against illegal pharmaceutical trafficking in recent months.

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