Lucknow: Food Safety and Drug Administration seized fake, expired and illegally stocked medicines worth more than Rs 3.63 crore in Agra, an official said on Saturday. “The six-day operation, carried out in two phases between May 22-24 and Jun 12-14, led to the sealing of eight illegal warehouses and registration of six FIRs,“ the official said.Action was taken against the sale and storage of counterfeit medicines, physician samples, govt-supplied drugs and expired medicines. Led by FSDA commissioner Roshan Jacob, teams comprising 25 drug inspectors raided more than 20 drug firms, 12 warehouses and several residential premises across key pharmaceutical trading hubs, including Khatri Gali, Fawwara, Sanjay Place, Kamla Nagar, Jhulelal Market and Dayalbagh.Officials said investigations exposed an interstate network involved in manufacture and distribution of counterfeit medicines. One major case involved fake production and supply of a medicine marketed as ‘Oxalgin DP’ and the probe extending from Agra to Aligarh and Roorkee in Uttarakhand.Drugs worth Rs 2.5 crore were recovered from two warehouses linked to a wholesale drug firm in Jhulelal Market. Authorities found medicines marked “Physician Sample – Not For Sale”, govt and defence supply drugs and temperature-sensitive vaccines stored without proper cold-chain.In the second phase, officials detected warehouses with cancelled or invalid licences. Stocks of physician samples, govt-supplied medicines and expired drugs were seized from multiple locations.
