HYDERABAD, NOVEMBER 22, 2024: Officials of the Drugs Control Administration, Telangana, in a joint operation with the STF, Prohibition and Excise Department, busted a shady drug racket in Hyderabad. The racket involved the shipment of spurious antibiotic tablets from Uttar Pradesh to Telangana through couriers. Narcotic drugs, viz., Fentanyl Transdermal Patches, were also seized during the raid.
Gandla Ramulu, a habitual offender involved in various spurious drug cases in the State, shipped the spurious antibiotics into Telangana from Uttar Pradesh with the assistance of Munishekhar, a resident of Proddutur, Andhra Pradesh.
Spurious antibiotics worth Rs. 6.91 lakhs were seized during the joint operation, and the accused, Gandla Ramulu and Munishekhar, were apprehended as part of the special operation carried out on November 22, 2024.
DCA Director-General VB Kamalasan Reddy said that acting on credible information regarding the movement of spurious drugs into Telangana, the Drugs Control Administration, Telangana formed special teams and conducted a joint operation along with the STF, Prohibition and Excise Department on Friday. Officials raided Shree Tirupati Courier Services Pvt. Ltd., located at Balanagar, and found cardboard boxes labelled as received from Shree Pharma, located in front of Gayatri Hospital, Jhalwa Chak Dadanpur Peepalgaon, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. The boxes were addressed to Shiv Pharma Distributors, IDPL Colony, Adarshnagar, Hyderabad. The officers kept vigil on the medicine shipment received from Uttar Pradesh and tracked the delivery of the stocks to a person named Gandla Ramulu at Karman Ghat.
Gandla Ramulu is a habitual offender with several spurious drug cases pending against him in the state. He was arrested in February 2024 by the Malakpet Police in connection with a spurious drug racket, which led to an interstate Joint Operation in Uttarakhand with Drugs Control Administration, Telangana, Commissioner’s Task Force, and Malakpet Police. This operation resulted in the busting of a spurious drug manufacturing unit named Nectar Herbs and Drugs at Kotdwara, Uttarakhand, and the interstate arrests of the offenders. Gandla Ramulu was later released on bail.
Officers raided the premises of a crockery shop located in Karmanghat, where Gandla Ramulu had received the consignment. They seized four varieties of spurious antibiotic drugs from his possession. During interrogation, Gandla Ramulu revealed that he had procured the spurious drugs from Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, through a person named Munishekhar of Proddutur, Andhra Pradesh. He further disclosed that the spurious drugs were intended to be distributed to Kumar of Karimnagar and Bhaskar of Kurnool for sale.
The spurious medicines seized include; Jakclav-625 tablets, Jikpod-CV tablets, Jikcef-LV tablets and JiKef AZ tablets. In addition to the aforementioned spurious antibiotics, Narcotic Drugs, viz., Fentanyl Transdermal Patch 50 mcg/hr (Brand Name: FenSpar; Quantity: 12 patches) and Fentanyl Transdermal Patch 50 mcg/hr (Brand Name: THEMIFENT-P; Quantity: 9 patches), were also seized during the joint operation. The accused, Gandla Ramulu and Munishekhar, were apprehended during the raids carried out on Frida
In connection with the seizure of Narcotic Drugs, a case has been registered at Saroornagar Excise Station vide COR No. 111/2024 U/s 8(c) and 22(c) of the NDPS Act and has been taken up for investigation. Officers from Drugs Control Administration viz. G. Prasad, Assistant Director, Rangareddy, G. Anil, Drugs Inspector, Malakpet, B. Govind Singh, Drugs Inspector, Secunderabad, J. Nagaraju, Drugs Inspector, Saroornagar and Dr B. Lakshminarayana, Drugs Inspector, Uppal and Officers from STF Prohibition and Excise Department viz. Ch. Nagaraju, Inspector, STF and N. Srinivas Reddy, Excise Inspector, Saroornagar Prohibition and Excise Station, and their staff are among the officers who carried out the raid.
