Lucknow, September 4: Under the zero-tolerance policy of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government to free Uttar Pradesh from the drug trade, action against drug mafias and the illegal supply chain of narcotic drugs has been intensified across the state. Taking this campaign forward, a joint team of the Lucknow unit of the Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) and the Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has busted a major network involved in the illegal drug trade in the state capital, Lucknow.
In the operation conducted in Transport Nagar, around 228 kilograms of narcotic drugs were recovered. These included 9.60 lakh Alzomac-0.5 (Alprazolam) tablets, 1.20 lakh Spasmonam Plus (Tramadol HCL) capsules and 720 bottles of Onerex 100 ml codeine-based cough syrup. The operation also recovered 7 mobile phones and Rs 11,140 in cash. The police have arrested 6 people in the case.
ANTF had received information about the arrival of a large consignment of narcotic drugs in Transport Nagar. On September 3, the team began surveillance around House No. S-363/364. During this period, three people were seen hiding cartons inside sacks.
On suspicion, a search was conducted, during which a large quantity of narcotic drugs was recovered from the possession of Kishan Vaswani, Sameer Ahmed, and Shad Irshad. The FSDA team was also part of the operation. Drug inspectors secured samples of the recovered medicines for examination.
As the interrogation progressed, the next link in the supply network emerged. Kishan Vaswani and Sameer Ahmed revealed that the drugs were being supplied by Umesh Kumar, operator of Kanhaiya Pharma. Based on this information, police also arrested Umesh Kumar and Satendra Singh.
The investigation revealed that Umesh Kumar was allegedly using the documents of Satendra Singh's firm for billing narcotic drugs. It also emerged that Satendra Singh was allegedly being paid a commission in return. During the FSDA investigation, officials found seven types of medicines at Kanhaiya Pharma, including 1,116 boxes of Proximek-SPAS capsules. The firm operator could not provide complete records related to the purchase and sale of the medicines. Following this, the FSDA sealed Kanhaiya Pharma.
As the scope of the investigation expanded, the team interrogated Shad Irshad, during which Vishal Chaurasia's name came to light. He was subsequently arrested as well. During interrogation, Vishal stated that he had supplied narcotic drugs to Shad. The investigation also revealed that his drug license had been canceled after an FIR was registered at Aminabad police station in a case related to codeine.
Thereafter, he was allegedly conducting the drug trade through other firms. Regarding the recovered codeine-based cough syrup, Vishal also stated that he had purchased it from Brijesh Verma. The police and concerned agencies are now investigating other links in the network as well.
According to the ANTF, Kishan Vaswani, Sameer Ahmed, Shad Irshad, Umesh Kumar, Satendra Singh and Vishal Chaurasia were found to be linked to this illegal network. All six accused have been arrested under Sections 8/21/22/29 of the NDPS Act. Samples of the recovered medicines will be taken before the court as per rules. The entire operation was videographed through the e-Sakshya app.
This action, carried out under the Yogi government's zero-tolerance policy against drugs, indicates that the state is targeting the narcotic drug trade not merely at the street level, but across the entire network involved in supply, billing and distribution. The government's objective is to protect the youth from the grip of drugs and continue taking effective action towards making Uttar Pradesh drug-free.
