Lucknow: The food safety and drug administration (FSDA) has unearthed an interstate syndicate allegedly involved in the sale of counterfeit medicines, black marketing of govt hospital drugs, relabelling, fake billing and illegal distribution of physician samples.The action, carried out under the directions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, was led by FSDA commissioner Roshan Jacob. A team of 15 drug inspectors raided 13 pharmaceutical firms in Agra, including Kamboo Tola, Mubarak Mahal, Shoe Market, Krishna Complex, Nawabia Market and Kotwali.During the raids, two firms were sealed, restrictions were imposed on two others under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, and 35 suspicious drug samples were collected for laboratory analysis. Authorities have also initiated the registration of three FIRs against 14 operators, taking the total number of criminal cases registered during the ongoing campaign to nine.The latest investigation began after complaints that counterfeit Chymoral Forte and Shelcal tablets had entered the market. The probe allegedly exposed an interstate supply chain linking pharmaceutical traders in Agra, Gorakhpur and Kolkata. According to the FSDA, more than ₹3.63 crore worth of counterfeit, illegally stocked, govt-supply and defence-supply medicines have been seized since the special drive began in May this year.
