Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has filed FIRs against two people for illegally selling and stocking habit forming and anti-depressant drugs manufactured by Cipla and Ranbaxy at Kurla based Kapadia Nagar. The duo's shady drug deals included selling prescription medicines containing addictive substances without prescription and bill from Society Chemist.

Alert citizens of Kurla based Kapadia Nagar housing society helped bust the drug racket that was being run out of a chemist shop in their premises.They caught a taxi driver buying anti-depression pills, Tranax-1, manufactured by Cipla, red-handed, without prescription and a valid bill.

Around 500 bottles of Codeine Phosphate-based cough syrups, Rescon and Rescof, manufactured by Ranbaxy and Cipla have been seized. Hundreds of Spasmocip tablet strips, an analgesic and an addictive drug, which were banned by the central government in May 2013, were recovered. Around 1,000 strips of addictive sleeping pills, Alprazolam-based Tranax-1, too, were stocked Prescription drugs worth Rs 50,000 were found," said an FDA drug inspector.

According to an FDA official, two persons have been arrested and are currently under judicial custody till April 7, 2015. Action has been initiated against them for violating the conditions of licence under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. Cancelation of licences and issuance of stop sale order will be followed as a part of the administrative action.

"We would also ensure that people involved in the drug deal doesn't get a stay from the appellate authority, which is the state government in this case, as they have been repeat offenders," says an official. It has also been learnt that this is amongst the first such case detected by the state regulator this year.

The state as of today has 18,000 wholesalers including those who export and import. Out of which, there are around 4,000 stockists who supply to the retail trade. Maharashtra FDA had intensified the crackdown on the errant wholesalers last year considering the fact that unfair practice of constraining the supply of medicines by a handful of drug dealers was rampant.

Youngsters, including children aged as young as 12, were addicted to Codeine Phosphate-based cough syrups and Alprazolam-based anti-depression pills. The chemists always used to stock the illegal medicines in their apartments and sold the drugs to residents of the society as well as outsiders.  

The duties of a drug inspector for inspecting the premises of a licenced drug wholesaler are prescribed under Rule 51 (1) of the D&C Rules, 1945. It empowers the drug inspector to inspect, not less than once a year, all establishments licenced for the sale of drugs within the area assigned to him, to satisfy himself that the conditions of the licences are being followed and to make such enquiries and inspections as may be necessary to detect the sale of drugs in contravention to the Act.