Over 8,000 Bottles of Codeine Cough Syrup Seized in Major NDPS Crackdown, One Arrested

Authorities have seized more than 8,000 bottles of regulated codeine-based cough syrup from an illegal warehouse in Parsaura village under Dargah Sharif police station limits, officials said on Thursday. A drug trader has been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act , as enforcement agencies intensified action against the illegal trade in controlled medicines.

District Drug Inspector Vinay Krishn said the recovery was made during a joint raid conducted on Wednesday by the Drug Department and police teams from Dargah Sharif and Rupaideha areas, following a specific tip-off. The team found cartons of cough syrup stored in an unlicensed warehouse operated by accused Ajay Kumar Yadav , who was arrested and subsequently sent to jail under Section 8/21 of the NDPS Act .

Officials said although Yadav possessed a valid drug licence at another location, he had no authorization for storing regulated medicines at the seized premises, making the stock illegal under drug control laws.

Krishn added that in a related crackdown two days earlier , another joint raid at an Ayurvedic medicine shop in the Rupaideha area near the India–Nepal border led to the seizure of over 2,000 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup and other regulated drugs , with the operator also arrested under the NDPS Act.

Authorities said both cases are part of a broader anti-narcotics enforcement drive targeting the illegal circulation of cough syrup and other controlled substances in the region. Investigators are now probing the forward and backward linkages of the supply chain to identify manufacturers, distributors, and networks involved in the trafficking of regulated medicines.