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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday launched extensive searches at 25 locations in connection with an alleged illegal cough-syrup trading network, targeting the premises of key accused Shubham Jaiswal and his associates.
According to officials, the coordinated raids began at 7:30 am and spanned multiple cities across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Gujarat. The search properties linked to Jaiswal, his associates Alok Singh and Amit Singh, and several cough-syrup manufacturers were accused of diverting pharmaceutical supplies for unlawful distribution. The premises connected to chartered accountant Vishnu Aggarwal are also being searched as part of the probe, according to the official. On December 10, in a major crackdown on the illegal trade in banned codeine-based cough syrup, Varanasi Police seized approximately 30,000 bottles of the syrup, valued at approximately Rs 60 lakh, from a godown in the city. Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Saravanan Thangamani, DCP Crime, Varanasi, said, "The Varanasi Commissioner is continuously taking action against codeine-containing cough syrup. There is a godown here where this cough syrup is kept in huge quantities. Around 30,000 bottles of codeine-containing cough syrup have been seized, whose estimated value is around Rs 60,00,000. The land of this illegal godown is in the name of Manoj Kumar Yadav, a close associate of Shubham Jaiswal. 2 suspects have been arrested at the spot." The accused in the recent alleged cough syrup smuggling case in Varanasi, Shubham Jaiswal, who faces cases in Varanasi and Ghaziabad, has sought quashing of the FIR and a stay on his arrest. An FIR under the NDPS Act was registered on November 15 at Varanasi's Kotwali police station, naming Shubham, his father Bhola Prasad Jaiswal, and 28 others in the trafficking of banned codeine-laced cough syrup. (ANI)
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