Mumbai: Two arrested by ANC with 570 cough syrup bottles worth Rs 2.85 lakh

The suspect in police custody on Thursday. Pic/ Mumbai Police sources

The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai Police, in a major operation on Wednesday, apprehended two suspects involved in the smuggling of codeine-based cough syrup (CBCS) across state borders, the police said.

One of the accused hails from Pali, Rajasthan, while the other is from a remote area of Pattamadai in Trinavelli district, Tamil Nadu, an official said on Thursday.

The police confiscated a total of 570 CBCS bottles with an estimated value of 2.85 lakh rupees, the official added.

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The suspects were identified as key distributors of the scheduled drug CBCS. The investigations revealed that the suspect from Rajasthan had been engaging in the illicit diversion of prescription drugs for the past six to seven years, falling under the purview of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the police said.

The suspect had previously faced charges of illegal trafficking of CBCS bottles and was arrested by the Shivajinagar police station, the official said.

The police said that both accused were responsible for procuring drugs from other states and selling them to peddlers in various areas of Maharashtra including Govandi, Bandra, Ghatkopar, Wadala, Thane, and Bhiwandi.

The arrested individual from Tamil Nadu, aged 44, had an extensive criminal history dating back to 1997, which included charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery, and assault. He had previously been detained and externed twice by the Shivajinagar police station under the Maharashtra Prevention of Dangerous Activities (MPDA) Act, the police said.

Over the past two years, the ANC Ghatkopar has successfully dismantled seven similar CBCS smuggling gangs, arresting 21 individuals, including key leaders, and seizing over 2000 kilograms of drugs in the Shivajinagar, Govandi, Bainganwadi, and Dongari areas. These gangs are known to have inter-state linkages, extending to Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, the police said.

The arrest of these two individuals has dealt a significant blow to the illicit drug supply chain of CBCS bottles in areas including Shivaji Nagar, Govandi, Mankhurd, Wadala, Sion and Dharavi. The ANC Crime Branch Mumbai is committed to curbing drug trafficking and ensuring the safety and well-being of the city's residents, the police said.

"In last few months we have busted various interstate syndicates related to the CBCS smuggling and we believe that these cases are going to have major impact to the supply chain," said ANC, DCP, Prakash Jadhav.