Inter-state cough syrup smuggling racket busted by NCB

Bhubaneswar: In what could be just the tip of an iceberg of a major drug racket, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials today claimed to have busted an inter-state cough syrup smuggling racket whose network is reportedly spread from Delhi to Bangladesh.

More than 2,100 bottles of Phensedyl cough syrup were seized during a raid on a courier agency at Budheswari Colony in Bhubaneswar and three persons have been detained in this connection.

The seizure came after a raid was conducted by a special team of the NCB that was closely tracking the racket since long.

NCB superintendent Vikash Kumar informed that as per preliminary investigation the cough syrups were procured from New Delhi for smuggling into Bangladesh via Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.

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Bulk of the consignment was also being procured from Chhattisgarh.

Senior officials said that the particular brand of the cough syrup is considered as a medicine only when it is used for therapeutic purposes. However, there have been reports that it is being used as a psychotropic drug.

The reason behind the demand for the cough syrup is its high Codeine content which is consumed by addicts.

Though the cost of one bottle of Phensedyl is Rs 127, it is sold for Rs 250 in Kolkata and the price almost doubles to Rs 450 after it is smuggled to Bangladesh.

The NCB has now launched a manhunt to nab the mastermind behind such illegal trade as earlier 5,000 bottles of cough syrup of another brand were seized in Sambalpur on August 20.