A joint operation undertaken by Food and Drugs Administration Punjab (FDA) and CIA teams led to the seizure of huge quantity of formulations prohibited under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, from a druggist in Faridkot.
“On late Tuesday evening, a raid was conducted at M/s Friends Medical Agency near Old Bus Stand, Faridkot District, leading to the seizure of 11 types of habit forming drugs, mostly Tramadol, Diphenoxylate and Buprenorphine, and a total of 2,555 tablets were recovered from the premises of the medical store. The store also stocked 28 types of allopathic drugs without purchase records on Form 16. This unaccounted cache of drugs comprised of 3040 tabs, 62 kits and 70 ampoules amounting to a total of 34,887 drugs,” said FDA Commissioner KS Pannu on Wednesday.
He said that the seizure warranted further search of the residential premises of the owner of the firm. The raid by the senior officials of both FDA and Police unearthed 33 types of drug formulations prohibited under NDPS Act mostly Tramadol, Buprenorphine, Diphenoxylate, Alprazolam and Clonzepam stocked in the basement of the residence of the druggist.
A total of 65845 tablets, 119 Injections and 30 syrups, all habit forming ones were recovered.
The police also recovered drug money amounting to approximately Rs 90 lakh (Rs 87,59,000) from residential premises.
Owner of the store or residential premises is in police custody and an FIR, dated August 27, 2019, under Section 22, 61, 85 has been registered by police in Thana City, Faridkot.
Both retail sale and wholesale drugs licenses of M/s Friends Medical Agency Faridkot have been cancelled, with immediate effect, informed Pannu.