Poison trade in the name of ‘syrup’: International drug racket worth Rs 2000 crore busted, father and son arrested from Prayagraj

Prayagraj/Sonbhadra. Prayagraj And Sonbhadra The SIT has arrested a father-son duo, revealing a large network of cough syrup smuggling spread across the country. The arrested accused have been identified as Vinod Kumar Verma, resident of Uditganj of Atarsuiya police station area, and his son Sanskaar Verma, who were doing illegal business by running a firm in the name of “Om Sai Pharmaceutical”.

According to the police, both the accused used to procure large consignments of codeine-laced cough syrup from Delhi and illegally transport it to other states and international borders. Inquiry has revealed that this syrup was hidden in containers and sent to Bangladesh border via Agartala (Tripura) through a depot located on Meerut Road, Ghaziabad. To hide the smuggling, cough syrup was sent hidden among the snacks and chips.

This entire network was linked to the supply of codeine cough syrup, which was used as an intoxicant, which was active not only at the interstate but also at the international level. Police claim that the arrested accused are close to the main leader of this racket, Shubham Jaiswal.

It is noteworthy that on 18 October 2025 Sonbhadra 1,19,675 vials were recovered from two container trucks in Robertsganj area. Of these, 59,675 vials were found to be linked to the network of these accused. Based on the investigation of this case, the team led by SIT in-charge Sadanand Rai raided Prayagraj in the early hours of Sunday and arrested both of them. Later he was brought to Sonbhadra and sent to jail after interrogation.

In this whole matter, a cough syrup smuggling network worth about Rs 2000 crore is coming to light. Properties worth about Rs 500 crore of the main accused and others have been seized by the state police. Although, Enforcement Directorate Questions are being raised over lack of concrete action yet from the ED.

According to sources, ED collected details of the assets of the accused during the investigation and also sought answers from the pharmaceutical companies, but till now the action has not progressed. Meanwhile, the ED Deputy Director investigating the case has been transferred to Hyderabad, due to which the pace of investigation has slowed down further. Currently, the police is busy searching for other members of this international smuggling network and a thorough investigation of the entire case is going on.