Delhi Police bust fake medicine racket, seize drugs worth ₹6 crore; 4 held

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

The Delhi Police crime branch has arrested four men for allegedly relabelling and selling medicines meant for government hospitals and dispensaries, senior officers said on Thursday after busting a storage unit in Mukherjee Nagar and recovering medicines worth nearly ₹6 crore.

Police said the raid led to the seizure of thousands of tablets, capsules, injections and vials, estimated to be worth around ₹6 crore. (Representational image)

Explaining the racket’s modus operandi, police said the gang mainly sourced medicines from different towns in Uttar Pradesh, removed their original labels and identifying marks, and repackaged them for illegal sale in Delhi-NCR, West Bengal and northeastern states.

Police identified the arrested men as Manoj Kumar Jain, Raju Kumar Mishra, Vikram Singh and Vatan.

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 from the crime branch was constituted on April 22 to gather intelligence regarding the illegal trade of spurious and government-supplied medicines in Delhi. With help from the drugs department and other inputs received, a raid was conducted in Mukherjee Nagar on April 23,” deputy commissioner of police (crime) Pankaj Kumar said.

The raid led to the seizure of thousands of tablets, capsules, injections and vials. The recovered stock included 7,900 HepBest tablets, 6,000 Azithromycin tablets, 7,800 Lenvakast and 6,300 Lenvatol capsules, 953 rabies vaccine vials, 18,000 Zerodol-SP tablets, 9,000 UDIDAC tablets and 1,500 Vitamin D3 injections, the officer said.

Police also recovered 55 snake anti-venom injections, 260 Anti-D immunoglobulin injections, 315 insulin cartridges, 2,500 Hepatitis-B vaccine doses and more than 20,000 Cefixime 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 ₹6 crore,” the DCP said.

Police said Jain was identified as the alleged mastermind. He earlier worked in the construction business but shifted to Delhi in 2024 after suffering losses.

“He later started the counterfeit medicine operation from his Mukherjee Nagar premises in partnership with Mishra around a year ago. Jain admitted to procuring government-supplied medicines, altering their labels and selling them in the open market. Mishra, who earlier worked at his brother’s clinic, has also been arrested,” another officer, requesting anonymity, said.

Police said that based on the accused’s interrogation, other associates were arrested in May.

“Singh alias Sunny, a diploma holder in lab technology, operated a diagnostic centre in Prayagraj. He said he had observed surplus medicines lying unused in government hospitals and planned their diversion for resale. He and Vatan sourced medicines from government hospitals and community health centres in Prayagraj through internal contacts before supplying them to Jain for relabelling and illegal distribution,” the DCP said.

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.