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Codeine syrup nexus: 5 more held in Varanasi, Bangladesh drugs-to-gold trail uncovered
The arrests were made from two locations, three from Rohania and two from Sarnath, as investigators exposed how the syndicate used shell pharmaceutical companies and dummy operators to purchase syrup at ₹100 per vial, smuggle it to Bangladesh at ₹700 per vial, and smuggle profits back as gold through West Bengal before converting it to currency through hawala networks.
Police here on Sunday arrested five more people in connection with the ongoing codeine cough syrup smuggling case, exposing a cross-border operation that used shell pharmaceutical companies to smuggle the restricted drug to Bangladesh at inflated prices, with profits laundered back through gold and hawala networks.
The arrests were made from two locations, three from Rohania and two from Sarnath, as investigators exposed how the syndicate used shell pharmaceutical companies and dummy operators to purchase syrup at ₹100 per vial, smuggle it to Bangladesh at ₹700 per vial, and smuggle profits back as gold through West Bengal before converting it to currency through hawala networks.
The three arrested from Rohania were identified as Swaplin Kesari from Mughalsarai in Chandauli district, Dinesh Kumar Yadav from Saptasagar locality in Kotwali police station area, and Ashish Yadav from Ishwargangi in Jaitpura, said additional deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Varuna Zone, Neetu, while addressing a press conference.
They were wanted in a case registered under Section 8/21/25/29 NDPS Act and 111 BNS at Rohaniya Police Station following the recovery of 93,750 bottles of codeine cough syrup from a godown in Bhadwar. Another accused, Azad Jaiswal, was arrested on the spot during the initial recovery.
During interrogation, Azad Jaiswal told police the goods belonged to Shubham Jaiswal and were intended for sale in Bangladesh at ten times higher prices. More than ₹1 crore deposited in the accused’s bank accounts has been frozen.
Investigation revealed that the three had opened pharmaceutical companies, Singh Medicos, Alaukba and SP Pharma, at Shubham Jaiswal’s direction, which functioned as shell firms. Cash received through hawala was deposited in these firms’ accounts and later transferred to Shaili Traders, Shubham Jaiswal’s firm, through other companies. The syrup was kept hidden at unknown locations and secretly sent to Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the two arrested from Sarnath were identified as Vishnu Kumar Pandey and Lokesh Agarwal. Police recovered two chequebooks, one seal of PD Pharma, one letterpad book, 120 signed bills, one ATM card, one laptop and one mobile phone, said assistant commissioner of police, Sarnath, Vidush Saxena.
Both were wanted in a case registered on a complaint by drug inspector Junab Ali, who stated that PD Pharma had misused its drug license by selling codeine-containing medicines for intoxicating purposes without medical consultation or completing legal formalities. The case was registered under sections 338, 336(3), 340(2), 208 BNS and 26(d) NDPS Act.
Investigation revealed that shell companies like PD Pharma and Ganeshu Firm were opened with dummy operators as owners on paper. However, the real owners were Lokesh Agarwal and Shubham Jaiswal, who kept the chequebooks, ATMs, login IDs and digital signatures. The dummy operators received ₹2 lakh annually.
Shubham Jaiswal opened Shaili Traders in Ranchi and began sourcing goods directly from Abbott as a super stockist. The billings were deliberately kept under ₹50,000 to avoid generating e-way bills,
preventing any official digital record of the goods being transported.
The profits were smuggled into West Bengal as gold, which was converted into currency through hawala operator Pratik Gujarati by matching code numbers on currency notes. Investigation revealed that Lokesh deposited over ₹6 crore in cash with PD Pharma through Pratik, and the money was laundered through other shell firms, Saxena said.
Legal action is being taken against all the accused, the police added.
