147 kgs of banned drugs worth Rs 19 cr seized in pharma company raid

City police has conducted a raid at a leading pharma company unit at Ambernath in Thane district and seized 754 kgs of drugs, of which 147 kgs are banned drugs worth Rs 19 crore, a top police officer said.

Police held four persons, including two employees of the pharma company in this connection so far.

"On January 6, acting on a tip-off, the city police had arrested two persons- Lavkush Pappu Guta (26) a rickshaw driver and Amit Bhimrao Godbole (32), a pharmacist, and seized six kilograms of banned drug Alprazolam, worth Rs 15 lakh from them," Thane Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh told reporters here.

The duo was held from Anand Dighe Clock Tower at Talao Pali in Thane city.

"The interrogation of the duo led to the arrest of Basavaraj Hanumanta Bhandari (27) and Anil Kanta Rajbhar (25), over the weekend. Both of them were employed in the production unit of the company. After the raids, police seized total 754 kgs of narcotic substances, controlled drugs and excess stock of chemicals, of which banned drugs worth Rs 19 crore has been identified so far," he said.

The banned drugs were found kept in the HDPE (high-density polyethylene) drums kept in a cavity, the police chief said.

"The HDPE drums were found only half-filled indicating that part of the stock had already been taken out and disposed off. Out of the total seizure, 47.170 kg was of Alprazolam and around 100 kg of other narcotics, collectively worth Rs 19 crore. The balance stock was being examined by the technical experts and the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)," Singh said.

He said police is trying to find out if any senior management staff was involved in the racket.

The company has its manufacturing facilities in Goa, Pune, Ambernath and Mumbai and exports its products to as many as 96 countries and has permission to manufacture and store certain goods, police said.

"The company manufactures total 55 products, of which 27 are psychotropic substances. The search team, which raided the premises also found 115 tonnes of drugs and chemicals, including raw material and finished goods. Police, with the help of the FDA, are inspecting if the company was following proper procedure for manufacture and storage of these materials," the Commissioner said.

Police is also in the process of checking the stock registers of the company to find out if there are any lapses or violations by the staff or management.

"This is a big catch by the Thane police and we are carrying out a systematic probe into the entire activity and operations," Singh said.