In a significant push towards a drug-free India, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted a massive web of drug peddlers crisscrossing across four states of Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haridwar and Uttarakhand, seizing narcotics worth Rs 547 crore and apprehending 15 people.
Union Home minister Amit Shah, in a post on the social platform X, hailed the operation as a reflection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s commitment to building a drug-free Bharat. “Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, Bharat is axing down drug cartels with ruthless aggression,” he wrote.
Following government’s zero tolerance approach against drugs, NCB has seized 1.36 crore psychotropic tablets from a distributor in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. NCB also seized 11,693 CBCS bottles & 2.9 kg of Tramadol powder from a manufacture in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. The total value of seized drugs is around Rs. 547 crores.
This year, Amritsar Zonal Unit of NCB busted major networks involved in illegal diversion and distribution of pharmaceutical medicines for non-medical use across Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi.
On April 20 and 21, 2025, simultaneous raids were conducted in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. The search in Uttarakhand resulted in seizure of 11,693 CBCS bottles and 2.9 kg of Tramadol powder from J R Pharmaceuticals.
The search at the premises of key distributor, Embit Bio Medix, Himachal Pradesh, resulted in the seizure of 19,25,200 tablets and the search at the premise of Aashi pharmaceutical, Bawana, Delhi resulted in the seizure of 1.17 crore tablets of Tramadol and Alprazolam indicating massive unauthorized possession and illegal distribution of pharmaceuticals medicine. The proprietor of Embit Bio Medix was arrested earlier, while attempting to flee to Vietnam on 18th April at Indira Gandhi Airport, Delhi.
The investigation revealed that proprietor of Embit Bio Medix, Himachal Pradesh had previously operated in Delhi, where his drug license was cancelled in December 2022. Concealing this, he obtained a new license in Himachal Pradesh and also launched another firm in Delhi, registered under an associate’s Aashi Pharmaceutical.
The investigation started four months ago when a person impersonating as a medical professional was intercepted at Amritsar with 2,280 Alprazolam and 1,220 Tramadol tablets. Further investigation uncovered a local distribution chain, leading to several arrests and follow-up searches that resulted in the recovery of 21,400 more Tramadol tablets and 43,000 Alprazolam tablets.
In another case in February 2025, a separate seizure of 5,000 Tramadol Hydrochloride (Trekm-100) tablets in Amritsar led investigators to a chain extending into Tarn Taran, Dehradun, and Manawala. The source trail pointed toward the illegal supply of pharmaceutical medicines by individuals operating without valid licenses, supported by dummy medical setups.
Investigations in both cases revealed involvement of same pharmaceutical manufacturing company based in Haridwar, Uttarakhand which led to suspicion and through investigation conducted so far, has disclosed large-scale diversion of pharmaceuticals medicine by M/s JR Pharmaceuticals, Haridwar and others.
The follow up raids conducted in the month of February, 2025 at JR Pharmaceuticals led to seizures of 16,860 Tramadol tablets, 327 bottles of Codeine-based cough syrup, and 2.55 lakh loose Tramadol tablets (80.7 kg) hidden in drums. Further raids in the same month, based on information provided during interrogation, led to the seizure of 8,89,064 CBCS bottles held without valid documentation purportedly for diversion.
Investigation conducted so far led to cumulative seizure of over 1.42 crore of Tramadol & Alprazolam tablets, 2.9 kg tramadol powder, & 9,01,084 CBCS bottles (approx. 135 tons), and arrest of 15 accused from 04 different states in last four months.
The NCB has launched helpline to check the spread of drug racket. Any person having information related to sale of narcotics can call on MANAS- National Narcotics Helpline Toll Free Number-1933.