In a raid jointly conducted by the Agripada police station and a few officers of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this month, 35 bottles of codeine phosphate were recovered.
Based on a tip-off by a local informer, sleuths from the detection team of the police station, under the able guidance of Senior PI Savalaram Agawane and PSI Vaibhav Gurav and a supervisor of the FDA, laid a trap to nab the culprit. Upon seizing the cough syrup, the supervisor confirmed that it is banned and is dangerous to health too.
The accused, Wazir Ahmed Nisar Ahmed Ansari, was arrested from Water Street in Byculla. As per confirmed information, at the time, the 36-year old was found to be in possession of these bottles of cough medicine, a banned medical drug. If sources are to believed, Ansari was planning to stock up many of these bottles.
Pharmacy shops have been advised against selling the medicine, that can only be procured on a doctor's prescription. Over the counter sale of codeine is banned.
Codeine, a cough medicine has been banned in India with effect from March 2016. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has no proof of its competence against cough control.
Codeine is one of the pharmaceuticals that has been classified as an opiate. However, there is a dangerous and an alarming trend that is increasing in usage and popularity, amongst teenagers and young adults.
Ansari is currently out on bail and maximum punishment that can be awarded to him is two, three years.
An FIR was registered in Agripada on February 2 and the unemployed accused was booked under sections 276 (sale of drug as a different drug or preparation) and 18(a), 18(c), 27(b) and 27(s) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.