Noida police bust gang selling counterfeit food supplements

Gautam Budh Nagar police busted a gang selling counterfeit food supplements in Delhi-NCR, confiscating fake products and packaging worth ₹1 crore. The suspects were retailing items under the guise of a Pune-based food supplement company and marking up the price three times. The gang had worked at a legitimate facility in Gurugram before starting their own venture. An FIR has been registered against the suspects.

The Gautam Budh Nagar police on Tuesday busted a gang of three men allegedly selling counterfeit food supplements within Delhi-NCR over the past three months and confiscated fake food supplements, machinery, and counterfeit packaging of genuine products with an estimated value of ₹1 crore, said senior officers.

Noida sector 63 police station arrested three people involved in selling counterfeit food supplements for the past three months in the city, said police. (Sunil Ghosh /HT Photo)

According to police, the suspects were allegedly retailing items under the guise of Cartel Whey, a Pune-based food supplement company. They falsely claimed that the products were manufactured in Noida, marking up the price of each food supplement box to three times its actual cost.

Amit Kumar, station house officer, Sector 63 said, “Over the past few days, we were receiving intelligence about the operation of a fake food supplement factory engaged in producing counterfeit muscle building supplements in Sector 62, Block C.”

Acting on the tip-off, a police team conducted a raid on the factory premises, during which it was discovered that three men, identified as Amit Kumar (24), Ajay Singh (23), and Roshan (23) from Giridih city in Jharkhand, were involved in the production of fake food supplements.

Additional deputy police commissioner, Central Noida, Rajiv Dixit said, “The food supplements underwent testing by the food department, and were confirmed as counterfeits. Our investigation unveiled that the suspects had collectively worked at a legitimate food supplement facility in Gurugram for nearly two years. It was during their tenure there that they hatched the plan to launch their own venture.”

Dixit said the suspects received financial backing from a Noida resident named Yash, who remains at large. “With his support, they established a factory in Noida and began operations. These suspects were vending counterfeit food supplements in Noida at ₹5,000 per pack, despite the production cost being only about ₹1,500,” said ADCP Dixit, adding that efforts are underway to arrest Yash.

Furthermore, police also said the suspects manufactured the items without undergoing proper testing and their factory lacked registrations and a tax identification number (TIN).

“We confiscated items worth ₹1 crore, including sham plastic containers, maltodextrin powder, packaging machinery, labels, and printing equipment,” said Dixit.

An FIR was registered under Sections 272 (adulteration of food or drink intended for sale), 273 (sale of noxious food or drink), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), and 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code against the suspects.