Even as Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has busted an illegal abortion drug racket with its network spanning across Gujarat and Delhi, probe is going on to find the mastermind of the racket. This is the first of its kind case unearthed by the FDA team with the help of intelligence and police officials this year.

FDA laid the trap on the three accused people engaged in procuring and peddling the pills in Mumbai on a tip off. The accused are in police custody at South Mumbai's Yellow Gate police station. The racket was run by a licensed stockist based in Mumbai. Around 440 strips of non-surgical abortion medication have been confiscated from the Mumbai based dealer and two medical representatives who supplied him the pills.

Drugs worth over Rs. 3 lakh have been confiscated and three people have been found contravening the provisions of the law under different sections of Essential Commodities (EC) Act and Drugs and Cosmetics Act (D&C Act).

According to an FDA official, "Mumbai based stockist has been violating the law of the land by illegally procuring, stocking and selling the drug to unauthorised people. The stockist in question will have to face suspension or cancellation of licence based on the investigations."

Preliminary investigation has revealed the presence of a widespread distribution network of contraband drugs with its origins in Delhi. Intelligence reports indicate that private courier and transport companies were being used to ferry these medicines in Mumbai.

The FDA, acting in concert with the crime branch, took the help of a marketing professional who acted as a decoy to trap a pharmaceuticals dealer selling the medication. On September 12, an inspector at the FDA received a tip-off from an informant that a Mumbai based firm was at the distribution end of a supply chain in illegal abortion pills. A strip of Gestapro, a pill manufactured by Zuventus Healthcare, with its headquarters in Uttarakhand used to be sold as high a cost of Rs. 800 for a strip to gullible customers. The maximum sales price of Gestapro, which is sold only against a prescription, is Rs. 575.

Following the arrest, the three men were presented before a magistrate and remanded in police custody. FDA investigator informed that they are yet to probe the beginnings and extent of the conspiracy to obtain, smuggle and distribute abortion pills in Mumbai.

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) pills are recommended by physicians only for pregnancies that haven't exceeded 63 days. Medical abortion pills are prescription drugs that are different from emergency contraceptive pills. They are taken between 7 to 9 weeks of pregnancy and cause the embryo to be expelled from the uterus. Chemists can dispense the drug only against a prescription issued by a doctor who is registered under the MTP Act.