Delhi Police busts interstate racket involved in illicit pharmaceuticals trade; four held

During the search, the team apprehended Manoj Kumar Jain from the premises and recovered a huge quantity of branded medicines, government supply drugs, suspected counterfeit medicines, packaging and labelling material and machinery allegedly used in illegal manufacturing and relabelling, the officer said.

The Delhi Police has arrested four persons allegedly linked with an interstate racket involved in the manufacture, relabelling and distribution of spurious prescription drugs, unearthing an illegal processing and repackaging unit in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area, officials said on Thursday. Police said the illicit operations allegedly involved diversion of medicines meant for government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh, removal of original labels and identifying marks, and their illegal sale in Delhi-NCR and northeastern states after repackaging. The arrestees include the alleged kingpin Manoj Kumar Jain (56), a resident of Mukherjee Nagar; Raju Kumar Mishra (57) from Panchkula in Haryana; Vikram Singh alias Sunny (32) and Vatan (35), both residents from Prayagraj. According to police, counterfeits of several life-saving medicines, including rabies vaccines, snake venom antiserum, insulin, Human Albumin and Hepatitis-B vaccines, were being circulated by the syndicate, posing a serious threat to public health. ''A team of the crime branch had been constituted on April 22 to gather intelligence regarding the illegal trade of spurious and government-supplied medicines in Delhi,'' Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pankaj Kumar said in a statement. During the operation, police received specific information that an organised gang was collecting medicines supplied to government hospitals, removing their original packaging and relabelling them for commercial sale in Delhi-NCR and northeastern states. Acting on the input, the team coordinated with the drugs control department of the Delhi government and conducted a raid at a premises in Indra Vikas Colony in Mukherjee Nagar. Drug inspectors from the drugs control department and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) also participated in the raid. ''During the search, the team apprehended Manoj Kumar Jain from the premises and recovered a huge quantity of branded medicines, government supply drugs, suspected counterfeit medicines, packaging and labelling material and machinery allegedly used in illegal manufacturing and relabelling,'' the officer said. Police said the recovery indicated the existence of a well-organised network engaged in large-scale illicit production and circulation of spurious pharmaceutical products. A case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Drugs and Cosmetics Act at the Crime Branch police station on April 23. The team seized thousands of tablets, capsules, injections and vials during the raid. The recovered stock included 7,900 HepBest (hepatitis medication) tablets, 6,000 Azithromycin (antibiotic) tablets, 7,800 Lenvakast, and 6,300 Lenvatol (cancer medications) capsules, 953 rabies vaccine vials, 18,000 Zerodol-SP (pain medication) tablets, 9,000 UDIDAC (liver drug) tablets and 1,500 Vitamin D3 injections, the officer said. Police also recovered 55 snake venom antiserum injections, 260 Anti-D immunoglobulin injections, 315 insulin cartridges, 2,500 Hepatitis-B vaccine doses and more than 20,000 Cefixime (antibiotic) tablets, besides loose tablets, packaging material and four labelling and packaging machines. The total market value of the recovered medicines is estimated to be around Rs 6 crore, police said. According to investigators, Manoj Kumar Jain was the mastermind behind the syndicate. During interrogation, Jain told police that he had earlier worked in the construction business in Manipur, but shifted to Delhi with his family in 2024 after suffering losses. He later started the counterfeit medicine operation from his Mukherjee Nagar premises in partnership with Raju Kumar Mishra around one-and-a-half years ago. Police said Jain admitted to procuring government-supplied medicines, altering their labels and selling them in the open market. He allegedly disclosed that the medicines were distributed to locations including Delhi, West Bengal and the northeastern states. Raju Kumar Mishra, who has studied up to Class 12, earlier assisted at his brother's clinic and gained experience in medicine handling and supply, police said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he allegedly earned substantial profits through a mask and glove business and later entered the pharmaceutical trade. Police said Mishra subsequently established a unit manufacturing counterfeit Human Albumin in Punjab's Derabassi area and later partnered with Jain for distribution of medicines in northeastern states. Vikram Singh alias Sunny, a diploma holder in lab technology, operated a diagnostics centre opposite a hospital in Prayagraj, police said. During interrogation, he allegedly told investigators that he observed surplus medicines lying unused in government hospitals and planned their diversion for resale. Police said Vikram and Vatan sourced medicines such as Azithromycin, rabies vaccines and insulin from government hospitals and community health centres in Prayagraj through internal contacts before supplying them to Jain for relabelling and illegal distribution. Vatan, an MBA graduate, initially traded in masks and sanitisers during the pandemic before moving into surgical equipment, police said, adding that he later joined the illegal medicine network and facilitated procurement of medicines from government healthcare facilities in Uttar Pradesh. ''Vatan was arrested in a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in Madhya Pradesh in 2025,'' the officer said. According to investigators, the accused used a clandestine facility in Mukherjee Nagar to remove original labels from government-supplied medicines and replaced them with fabricated packaging for sale across Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati, Imphal and other locations. ''Preliminary investigation has also revealed suspected use of hawala channels for routing money generated through the illegal trade,'' the officer said, adding that a detailed financial probe is also underway. All four accused are currently in police custody and further investigation is in progress to identify other members of the syndicate and trace additional supply chains, police said.