Fake Medicines In ICUs? Raids Near Bengaluru Uncover Massive Racket

A massive raid by the enforcement wing of the Food Safety and Drug Administration has unearthed a major counterfeit medicine racket operating from Bidadi in Ramanagara, southwest of Bengaluru.

Officials reportedly seized fake and spurious medicines worth more than Rs 5 crore from an unlicensed manufacturing unit. The premises were allegedly functioning without any valid licence and was being used to repack counterfeit drugs and affix labels of reputed multinational pharmaceutical companies.

According to officials, the racket involved sourcing medicines from illegal manufacturing units in different parts of the country, repackaging them and selling them under the names of major pharmaceutical companies.

Karnataka Health Minister UT Khader, speaking to NDTV, described the operation as a major drug mafia and said the counterfeit medicines were allegedly being sold to hospitals at prices nearly 50 per cent lower than market rates.

Khader said the most worrying aspect was that some of the seized medicines were reportedly intended for use in intensive care units.

The accused has been handed over to the police, while the Ramanagara Superintendent of Police has taken charge of the investigation.

Authorities are now probing the entire supply chain, including those who supplied the drugs to the Bidadi unit and those who may have purchased them.

Khader also said the racket could extend beyond Karnataka, suggesting the possibility of a larger, pan-India counterfeit medicine network.

The Health Department has said the person who provided the tip-off leading to the raid would be rewarded.