STF files 1.5-lakh page chargesheet in Rs 1,000-cr codeine cough syrup racket

Lucknow: The Lucknow unit of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) filed a massive 1.5-lakh-page chargesheet in the multi-crore interstate codeine-laced cough syrup trafficking racket, identifying 30 people involved in the illegal network that allegedly operated between 2019 and 2024.

STF officials said the racket involved illegal transactions and trafficking worth more than Rs 1,000 crore, making it one of the biggest pharmaceutical drug diversion cases unearthed in the state in recent years.

The chargesheet was filed under the NDPS Act and other criminal laws against nine arrested accused, while three key accused, including alleged kingpin Shubham Jaiswal and his relatives Gaurav and Varun Singh, are on the run. They are believed to be hiding abroad, reportedly in Dubai.

Sources in the STF said efforts were underway through the Union home ministry to initiate proceedings to bring the fugitives back to India.

An STF official privy to the probe revealed that out of a total of 30, only five were absconding while others were in jail in different districts of the state.

People who have been chargesheeted include dismissed constable Alok Singh and Amit Singh alias Tata.

STF investigations revealed that Alok and Amit met the mastermind Shubham Jaiswal in 2019 and initially worked from behind the scenes.

However, after they found that profits were enormous, they allegedly joined the racket directly in 2024.

The massive scam came to light following a two-month statewide crackdown launched on the directions of chief minister Yogi Adityanath to curb illegal storage, sale, distribution and diversion of narcotic-category medicines in Oct 2025.

At least 52 districts were covered in the drive, in which more than 332 wholesale drug establishments were inspected.

Investigations also revealed that during 2024-25, a whopping 22.39 crore bottles of Phensedyl (valued at Rs 506 crore), 73.16 lakh bottles of Eskof (Rs 154.38 crore) and 24.87 lakh bottles of other codeine-based brands (Rs 43.77 crore) were supplied in Uttar Pradesh — volumes far exceeding any legitimate medical requirement.

Officials found that cough syrup bottles never reached retail pharmacies or patients and were funnelled through select super-stockists and a chain of wholesale firms that existed largely on paper.

Many of these firms were found non-functional at their registered addresses, with no storage facilities, no actual stock and no verifiable records of onward supply.

The probe revealed that huge quantities of codeine-based cough syrup were shown as legally purchased on paper, but not a single bottle reached retail medical stores for genuine sale.

Instead, the consignments were allegedly diverted illegally through Bihar and West Bengal before being smuggled into Bangladesh, where the syrup was consumed as an intoxicant.

The chargesheet includes thousands of supporting documents, including bank records, call detail records, transport documents, purchase invoices, sales ledgers and digital evidence collected during the investigation.

In Dec, ED launched nationwide raids at 25 locations covering factories, warehouses and residences linked to arrested accused and their associates.

In Uttar Pradesh, premises in Jaunpur, Aligarh, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Varanasi and Ghaziabad were searched, while parallel operations were executed in Ranchi (Jharkhand) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat).