Ahmedabad: Man gets 12 years in jail for illegally stocking codeine bottles

Ahmedabad: A special NDPS court at the city sessions court here on Friday punished a 30-year-old man with 12 years in prison for illegally stocking cough syrup bottles containing codeine phosphate for sale, and imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him. Mohammad Arif Saiyed, a resident of Allahnagar in Danilimda, was arrested after a team of the Special Operations Group of the crime branch seized 85 bottles of cough syrup worth Rs 20,000 during a raid in Jan 2024.The police arraigned two others, Salim Shaikh and Jamaluddin Shaikh, in the case for conspiring with Saiyed to stock and illegally sell cough syrup. However, the police could not furnish enough evidence against the two, resulting in their acquittal.
Saiyed was charged with illegal possession of 85 bottles of 100 ml of cough syrup, which contained codeine phosphate. Saiyed, who had no permit or licence to stock or sell the bottles, was accused of selling them from his home. Police invoked provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act against him.After the court found Saiyed guilty under the NDPS provisions, the additional public prosecutor, D M Thakor, urged the court to impose the maximum punishment to set an example for society. He argued that addiction to drugs was ruining the country's youth, and narcotics cases are increasing by the day.While sentencing, special Judge V B Rajput said, "In all, 85 bottles of cough syrup containing codeine were seized from Accused No. 1 Mohammad Arif Saiyed. This substance is typically used for conditions such as cough, fever and allergies. However, when such drugs are used as intoxicants, it becomes serious. Users can become addicted to these substances, and as a result, their family members also have to suffer the consequences of their addiction."