Maharashtra: Palghar drug makers took one last order for big money

An investigation into the case wherein Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials had seized tonnes of banned Tramadol drugs has revealed that despite knowing that the drug has been banned under NDPS Act recently, the accused, took one last order from abroad to make big money one last time. The agency had arrested three people, including the owner of the factory.

According to DRI, officials searched the pharmaceutical unit on May 27 based after being tipped off about the unit manufacturing Tramadol illicitly. The search resulted in the recovery of 1.62 crore Tramadol tablets in cartons and 2.6 tonnes of Tramadol tablets in loose. More 4.47 crore tablets of Tramadol were recovered from a godown in Dronagiri. The total market value of the seized drug is over Rs 50 crore.

Tramadol is a painkiller extensively abused all over the world by addicts. India has brought the drug into the ambit of NDPS Act only on April 24, this year, making its production and sale without prior registration and approval of the Narcotics Commissioner illegal.

"Despite knowing that the drug has now been banned, the accused took one last order from abroad since they still had the raw material to prepare Tramadol. However, this step proved costly for the factory owner Hitesh Garg, Vijay Kumar Sharma and K Tandel, a chemist who were caught with the banned drugs," said a DRI official.