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With 128 FIRs, over 60 arrests and exposure of smuggling networks spanning from Bangladesh to Nepal, UP law enforcement believes this action is a decisive blow.
Preliminary investigation reveals that the syndicate had turned areas of eastern UP, especially districts like Gorakhpur, Sonbhadra, Maharajganj, Shravasti and Balrampur, into strategic transit points. (file for representation)
Uttar Pradesh, once literally called the ‘Codeine Corridor’ due to interstate smuggling syndicates, witnessed one of the biggest crackdowns in recent years.
In a wide-ranging crackdown across multiple districts, the state police registered 128 FIRs, arrested over 60 suspects, and seized over four lakh bottles of codeine-based cough syrup, which were being smuggled through a well-established network stretching from Bangladesh to Nepal through West Bengal, Bihar and eastern UP.
The operation – coordinated by the state police, Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FSDA), and the Special Task Force – has exposed the layers of a lucrative smuggling chain that thrived on forged drug documents, dummy distributors, clandestine transportation routes, and cross-border smuggling corridors. Investigators say the seizures point to “a much larger structure” that was deeply embedded in the drug supply ecosystem of eastern and central Uttar Pradesh.
transit points became nerve centers
Preliminary investigation reveals that the syndicate had turned areas of eastern UP, especially districts like Gorakhpur, Sonbhadra, Maharajganj, Shravasti and Balrampur, into strategic transit points. The network took advantage of the open borders with Nepal and relied heavily on interstate supplies from West Bengal and Bihar, where large stocks of legally manufactured codeine-based syrup were quietly shipped into the underground narcotics economy.
A senior STF officer involved in the operation said that the smuggling chain was complex and worryingly organized. “The syndicate had mastered every step from procurement to storage to cross-border shipment. The ease with which the consignment was transported to the states shows how deep the network was,” he said.
Authorities now believe that the Uttar Pradesh leg of the operation served as the “middle spine” of the entire smuggling cycle, whereby bottles sourced from eastern India were divided, reassembled in smaller consignments, and pushed towards Nepal and Bangladesh through discreet carriers.
From prescription drugs to narcotics
Codeine-based cough syrups fall under Schedule H2 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations, which means they can only be sold on prescription from a registered medical practitioner. But over the years, large quantities have been diverted by criminal networks, which repurpose them as narcotics, especially in areas where demand for “liquids” is high and enforcement is uneven.
Dr. Roshan Jacob, Commissioner of Food Safety and Drug Administration, said that this action was taken to disrupt the supply chain at multiple levels. He said, “Codeine-based cough syrups are purely prescription medicines. Their diversion into illicit markets is not a minor violation, but a serious criminal act. Our teams are conducting detailed investigations and will continue to take action against each entity – manufacturers, distributors and retailers – found involved.”
One of the biggest seizures in the history of the state
The scale of the recent seizures has stunned even experienced investigators. A raid on the warehouse found cartons stacked from floor to ceiling, many of which were tagged as “pharmaceutical supplies” for hospitals and clinics. In reality, the labels concealed a diversionary practice in which fake purchase orders and forged medical practitioner certificates were routinely used to purchase large quantities of cough syrup.
The seized bottles are believed to be headed for both domestic addiction markets and cross-border buyers, with their estimated illicit market value many times their printed value.
“A bottle which is priced at Rs 120 in the legal market may cost Rs 500 to Rs 800 once diverted,” said a FSDA source. “Multiply this by hundreds of thousands of bottles, and you’ll understand why this business attracts syndicates.”
Bangladesh-Nepal smuggling arc
Investigators say the crackdown has exposed a well-structured Bangladesh-Nepal smuggling arc, which had quietly turned eastern Uttar Pradesh into a strategic transit belt. The first phase of the network began in West Bengal and Bihar, where legally manufactured codeine-based cough syrup was sold in bulk using forged documents and dummy distributors. These consignments were transported through eastern UP before being diverted to border districts in Bengal – often in trucks carrying mixed commercial cargo or mislabeled as hospital supplies. Here, the bottles were broken into smaller pieces and pushed into Bangladesh via courier mules, small traders and transporters who used less-patrolled marshy lands, village tracks and night crossings to evade BSF patrols.
The second pipeline ran north to Nepal, using UP’s open Terai districts like Shravasti, Bahraich, Maharajganj and Siddharthnagar as staging points. Smugglers relied on bike couriers, small vehicles and local laborers to transport containers hidden inside sacks of grains, vegetables or second-hand goods. Once crossed the border, the bottles fetched two to three times the Indian market price, making the Nepal route an attractive option whenever enforcement from the Bangladesh side tightened. Authorities say the two routes operated interchangeably, allowing the supply of illegal codeine to remain uninterrupted for years.
The latest arrests in the codeine-trafficking investigation have opened the most important window yet into how the syndicate operated behind a glittering corporate facade. The arrest by the UP STF of Amit Kumar Singh alias Amit Tata, who has been identified as the main operator responsible for interstate smuggling, along with Alok Pratap Singh, a dismissed police constable, who allegedly ran parallel wholesale units using fake licenses, has exposed the elaborate ecosystem that allowed this racket to flourish for years.
Investigators say the two men relied heavily on dummy pharmaceutical firms registered under false credentials, shell companies with no physical offices, and distributors who routinely generated fake and inflated medical demand at rural hospitals to justify bulk orders of codeine-based syrup. Documents recovered from their premises revealed forged registration papers, prescription pads misusing the names of doctors and billing records that revealed how the consignments were transported to the States under the guise of legitimate medical supplies. The two reportedly maintained ties with operators in Bihar, West Bengal and the India-Nepal corridor, coordinating shipments through WhatsApp-based micro groups and cash-only transactions.
Importantly, authorities now believe that a significant portion of the profits were laundered through hawala operators, small manufacturing firms and textile traders, suggesting that the operation was not simply a smuggling racket but a parallel financial network. A senior police officer confirmed, “The money transactions are now being investigated. There are strong indications of financial transactions crossing state borders and possibly national borders.” With this financial web coming into focus, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to step in once the primary evidence chain is formally compiled.
political temperatures soared
The Samajwadi Party accused the government of waking up “too late” and ignoring many early warnings about the growing interstate syrup mafia. SP leaders claimed that the racket was allowed to spread unchecked due to administrative laxity and alleged collusion at the local level. An SP MLA demanded an independent probe into regulatory lapses, saying, “When lakhs of bottles can roam around districts without anyone informing them, it is clear that someone powerful is looking the other way.”
Meanwhile, the Congress termed the crackdown as a “surface-level action”, alleging that only carriers and mid-level operators were being arrested, while financial masterminds and political patrons remained untouched. Party leaders demanded a judicial inquiry to investigate whether enforcement agencies had raised the issue earlier and whether those warnings were suppressed.
The BJP dismissed the allegations as “political posturing”. A senior party spokesperson countered that the Yogi Adityanath government has taken the “most decisive action ever” against drug-related pharmaceutical rackets. “This government does not protect criminals. The so-called ‘code corridors’ are being systematically destroyed. The opposition should explain why these networks grew rapidly during their rule,” he said.
With 128 FIRs, over 60 arrests and exposure of trafficking networks spanning from Bangladesh to Nepal, Uttar Pradesh law enforcement believes this action is a decisive blow.
08 December, 2025, 18:56 IST
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