17 arrested from 7 states as racket diverting anti-cancer drugs worth Rs 9 crore busted

New Delhi (PTI): Seventeen people have been arrested and hundreds of vials of life-saving drugs recovered by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch, busting an alleged multi-state racket involving counterfeit and illegally diverted anti-cancer medicines worth around Rs 9 crore, an officer said on Thursday.

A team of the Crime Branch recovered 588 filled anti-cancer vials, six empty vials, seven empty medicine boxes, 3,021 units of other medicines and around Rs 50 lakh in cash, he said.

The recovered medicines include Darzalex, Imfinzi, Erbitux, Opdyta, Gazyva, Bavencio, Adcetris and Keytruda, which are predominantly used in the treatment of various types of cancers.

"The syndicate had supply links across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and other locations," the police officer said.

The officer said the probe began on June 22 after the team received secret inputs about the racket. Verification identified suspicious premises in East Delhi, Rohini and Mumbai.

Seven teams conducted simultaneous raids on July 11 in Delhi and Navi Mumbai in coordination with the drugs department and local police. Subsequent interrogation, disclosures and searches led to the arrests of 17 accused, the officer said.

Police said the syndicate obtained medicines through three channels -- counterfeit drugs bought from unauthorised sources, medicines allegedly misappropriated from hospitals meant for cancer patients, and government-supplied medicines diverted from government institutions and warehouses.

"The medicines were allegedly procured without valid invoices, purchase records, drug licences or other lawful documents and stored at residential and other premises before being distributed through intermediaries," the officer said.

Original cartons and empty boxes were retained for repackaging, while batch numbers, MRP details and other identifying marks were allegedly removed using chemicals such as acetone. Thermocol boxes, bubble rolls, adhesive tape and polythene were used to prepare consignments. Registers and diaries recording medicine and cash transactions were also recovered, he said.

The arrested accused include Abhishek Vaishya (26), and brothers Shubham Kumar Chaudhary (25), and Suraj Chaudhary (22), all from Laxmi Nagar.

Vaishya, educated up to class 12, allegedly procured and supplied the medicines since 2022. Registers, devices, packaging material, medicines and Rs 4 lakh were recovered from him, police said.

Shubham was allegedly involved since 2023 and Rs 23 lakh was recovered from him, while Suraj allegedly joined the trade with him in 2024.

Gagan (28), of Indirapuram, a wholesale medicine trader, allegedly sourced injections from Satish Kumar, (30), of Govindpuri, a former medical store salesperson, and supplied them to Vaishya. Mukesh (30), of Gurugram, who had worked at a relative's medical store, allegedly had been procuring drugs from hospitals since 2023. Twelve vials, medicines, packaging material and Rs 16.5 lakh were recovered from his vehicle.

Ayush Kumar (23), a B Com graduate from Patna and medicine-firm operator in Navi Mumbai, allegedly sourced drugs from Gagan. Vishwas Tyagi (35), of Ghaziabad, who runs a medicine firm, allegedly facilitated invoices without corresponding supplies. B Pharma-qualified medical-store owner Paramjeet Sheoran (34), of Jhajjar, allegedly distributed the medicines downstream; nine vials were recovered from him.

Anand Kumar (42), of Noida, a B Com graduate and former pharmaceutical firm operator in Dhanbad, allegedly acted as a key intermediary; 337 anti-cancer vials were recovered from him.

In Hyderabad, medical store owner Srinivasulu Kalva (52), allegedly received drugs from a hospital, while former hospital worker Ramdas Satish Kumar (42), allegedly misappropriated medicines. B Pharma-qualified hospital employee Malugari Srinath Reddy (35), allegedly supplied medicines meant for patients.

Mayank Garg (35), of Gurugram, who has been running a pharmaceutical firm since 2014, allegedly sourced hospital medicines; 55 vials were recovered from him. Deepak alias Ravi (33), of Faridabad, a dental technician and an oncologist's former personal assistant, allegedly received vials from nursing staff; 108 vials and Rs 6.5 lakh were recovered from him.

Jaswant Sharma (42), a nursing-qualified oncology department in-charge, allegedly removed medicines from a hospital, while Manish Sharma (28), a nursing-qualified worker from Alwar, allegedly misappropriated injections meant for patients. His arrest led to recovery of five filled and four empty vials, police said in a statement.

Police also said that electronic devices, documents and packaging material were also seized. "The Crime Branch is tracing the complete supply and financial network, identifying end beneficiaries and examining the role of other persons and business entities," the officers said, adding that an FIR has been registered at the Crime Branch Police Station on July 12.