Kanpur Police have uncovered a major inter-state illegal codeine cough syrup racket, arresting Vinod Agrawal, a ₹50,000-rewarded drug kingpin, in a decisive operation that has exposed a sprawling network of shell companies operating across multiple states.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shravan Kumar Singh, the arrest was made after sustained cyber surveillance and technical tracking. Agrawal was traced to Azad Chowk in Narnaul, Haryana, where he had been hiding to evade law enforcement.
During interrogation, the accused initially admitted to supplying illegal cough syrup to 47 firms. However, further investigation revealed that the network was far larger in scale, spanning more than 350 firms across several states. A significant number of these entities were found to be non-operational, existing only on paper, and allegedly used to launder and distribute controlled pharmaceutical drugs.
Police officials said the racket was structured to bypass regulatory checks by routing supplies through fake firms, making detection difficult. The case marks one of the largest crackdowns on illegal codeine cough syrup trade in the region in recent times.
