₹50 Crore Fake Medicine Racket Busted: Delhi Crime Branch Unearths 1.2 Lakh Counterfeit Tablets, Illegal Factory in UP Exposed – Massive Public Health Threat Revealed

In a breakthrough against the growing menace of counterfeit pharmaceuticals, the Cyber Cell Unit of the Crime Branch, Delhi Police, has busted an interstate racket involved in the manufacturing, storage and distribution of fake medicines across multiple states.

Six accused have been arrested following a series of coordinated raids carried out between March 12 and March 27, exposing what investigators describe as a highly organised illegal network operating through shell companies and fake GST billing channels.

According to senior officials, the scale of the racket suggests that this could be only the tip of the iceberg.

Investigators believe that if similar networks are probed more deeply across the country, the findings could be far more shocking and alarming, raising serious questions about the safety of medicines circulating in the market.

Sources in the medical community have expressed grave concern over the widespread availability of counterfeit medicines which fail to deliver the intended therapeutic effect, thereby putting patients’ lives at serious risk.

A senior doctor, speaking on condition of strict anonymity, revealed that several medical practitioners have begun operating in-house pharmacies alongside their clinics to ensure that patients receive genuine medicines.

The doctor further pointed out that chemist shops have proliferated rapidly in both urban and semi-urban areas, often without adequate scrutiny.

Patients typically consume medicines as prescribed without verifying their authenticity.

In many cases, pharmacists substitute the prescribed drug with another brand claiming identical composition, often without consulting the prescribing doctor.

Unsuspecting patients frequently accept such substitutes, unknowingly exposing themselves to potentially ineffective or dangerous counterfeit drugs.

Seizure of 1.2 Lakh Counterfeit Tablets

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime – Cyber Cell) Aditya Gautam stated that approximately 1,20,000 counterfeit tablets and capsules were seized from multiple locations in Delhi and Loni in Uttar Pradesh. Shockingly, nearly 40,000 tablets and capsules were recovered from a 15-foot-deep pit, where the accused had concealed large quantities of fake medicines to evade detection.

Inspector Manjeet Kumar and his team located the concealed stock on March 29 after intensive technical and field surveillance. The land was excavated in the presence of officials, leading to the recovery of the hidden medicines.

Key Accused and Modus Operandi

The arrested accused have been identified as:

• Nikhil Arora (40), owner of a wholesale medicine shop in Bhagirath Palace market in Chandni Chowk
• Shivam Tyagi (26)
• Mayank Aggarwal (42)
• Mohit Kumar Sharma (30)
• Shahrukh (38)
• Rahul (36)

Police investigations revealed that Nikhil Arora played a key role in distributing counterfeit medicines through wholesale channels. The racket allegedly relied heavily on fake GST firms and fabricated invoices to disguise illegal transactions as legitimate business operations.

The accused Shahrukh and Rahul are believed to have facilitated the creation of shell GST entities that existed only on paper.

These firms were used to generate fake invoices worth nearly ₹50 crore, enabling the illegal supply chain to operate undetected across state boundaries.

Investigators discovered that the network operated actively through encrypted communication platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, linking multiple beneficiaries across the country.

Widely Used Medicines Found Counterfeit

Among the counterfeit medicines seized were commonly prescribed drugs used in the treatment of diabetes, hypertension, liver disorders, infections, inflammation and neurological conditions. These included:

Rabemac-DSR, Telma-AM, Sporolac-DS, Signoflam, Chymoral Forte, Ursocol-300, CCM, Ketorol-DT, Gemcal, Gluconorm series, Jalra-50, Moxovas, Glycomet, Amlovas-AT, Disperzyme, Glimisave, Drotin-M, Naxdom-500, Bio-D3 Plus, Gabapin-NT and Montair-LC.

Drug regulatory authorities and pharmaceutical companies have confirmed that the seized medicines were counterfeit and were not manufactured or supplied through authorised channels.

Officials also noted that the storage premises did not possess valid licences required under pharmaceutical regulations.

Illegal Manufacturing Unit in Uttar Pradesh

Further interrogation of the accused Mohit Kumar Sharma led investigators to an illegal pharmaceutical manufacturing unit located in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh.

The factory, reportedly spread over 1,000 square yards, was allegedly operated by Mohammad Aqdas Siddiqui, who was absconding at the time of the raid.

Police seized approximately 2,000 kilograms of raw materials, 10,000 empty CCM bottles and machinery used in the production of fake medicines.

Authorities suspect that the facility was actively manufacturing counterfeit drugs for large-scale distribution across several states.

Investigators also revealed that one of the accused, Mayank Aggarwal, had previously been involved in similar cases, including one registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau in 2013 and another case lodged earlier this year at Murad Nagar police station in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Serious Public Health Implications

Experts warn that counterfeit medicines pose a grave threat to public health as they may contain incorrect ingredients, improper dosage, or no active pharmaceutical component at all.

Consumption of such drugs can result in treatment failure, worsening of disease, drug resistance, severe side effects, or even death in critical cases.

Authorities have indicated that further investigation is underway to identify additional links in the supply chain, including distributors, retailers and beneficiaries who may have knowingly or unknowingly sold counterfeit medicines to patients.

The case highlights the urgent need for stricter monitoring of pharmaceutical supply chains, verification of GST entities, and increased public awareness to prevent unsuspecting patients from falling victim to spurious drugs circulating in the market. Top officers have themselves admitted that this could be just the tip of the iceberg.

Whether big city or small, big town or an upcoming town, one can easily find medicine shops with an illiterate person behind the counter who poses like a man well versed in medicines.