Officials from directorate of revenue intelligence and police have conducted raids on some dubious pharma companies operating in the outskirts of Hyderabad and seized banned drugs like Methamphetamine and ephedrine worth several crores of rupees.

According to a senior official from the DRI, these pharma companies which are set up on the outskirts of Hyderabad are involved in the manufacture of narcotic drugs like methamphetamine and ephedrine and exporting them to African countries through their agents. “During a recent search, our officers have seized about 12 kgs of ephedrine from the baggage of a South African national. Based on the information, we conducted raids on all the illegal pharma manufacturing companies on the outskirts of Hyderabad and booked cases against them,” informed a senior officer from the enforcement agency.

In fact, ephedrine is used to prevent low blood pressure during spinal anesthesia. It has also been used for asthma, narcolepsy, and obesity but is not the preferred treatment. It can be taken by mouth or by injection into a muscle, vein, or just under the skin. It is popularly used overseas to treat asthma and bronchitis. While controlled dosage eases breathing, its abuse, popularly in the powder form, is known to cause euphoria, hallucinations, delusions, hypertension and nausea. It is synthesized to produce the popular narcotic Methamphetamine.

Though the government has allowed its controlled manufacturing as a bulk drug for pharmaceutical use, its retail sale is illegal and banned.

As per information from the police sources, a gang from Africa is involved in smuggling the narcotic drugs in large quantities to Chennai from where they are smuggled to countries in South East Asia such as Hong Kong and Singapore via ship.

According to officials, the synthetic drugs are cheaply produced in Hyderabad using easily available ingredients and pharmaceutical equipments. Agents from Africa and Middle East are buying drugs from local agents based in Hyderabad.