Delhi Police Seizes 31 kg Alprazolam, Busts Interstate Drug Racket,Three Arrested

The Delhi Police has busted a major interstate psychotropic drugs racket with the arrest of three persons and the seizure of 31 kilograms of Alprazolam tablets , officials said on Saturday.

The operation, conducted following intelligence-driven surveillance , led to the arrest of two accused near the Nand Nagri Bus Depot in north-east Delhi while they were travelling in a car bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration number . The third accused was arrested later during the investigation.

The arrested persons have been identified as Shamim , a resident of Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, and Rajeev Sharma and Mohit Gupta , both residents of Bulandshahr . Gupta allegedly runs a medical firm in Bulandshahr.

During the search, police recovered 31 kg of Alprazolam tablets , estimated to be around three lakh tablets , which falls under commercial quantity as defined in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act . Officials said the commercial quantity threshold for Alprazolam is 100 grams . Alprazolam, a benzodiazepine , is prescribed for anxiety, panic, stress, short-term insomnia, and acute procedural anxiety .

In addition to the tablets, the police seized 11 kg of aluminium foil printed with “Alprazolam”, 25 kg of PVC sheet rolls used for tablet packaging, 20 rubber stamps bearing fake batch numbers, manufacturing and expiry dates, and the car used for transportation . The recovery of large quantities of packaging material indicated the existence of a large-scale illegal pharmaceutical manufacturing operation , officials said.

An FIR under relevant sections of the NDPS Act was registered on January 29 . During the probe, the vehicle was found to be registered in the name of Mohit Gupta, who was subsequently apprehended based on leads provided by the other accused.

During interrogation, Sharma allegedly told investigators that he used to collect Alprazolam tablets from Shamim and his associate Randeep in Himachal Pradesh on Gupta’s instructions and supply them to pharmacies in Bulandshahr.

Shamim allegedly disclosed that he and his partner were running an illegal manufacturing unit in Parwanoo, Himachal Pradesh , from where the tablets were supplied to distributors in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Gupta allegedly procured the illegally manufactured tablets through his medical firm and distributed them to pharmacies in Agra and Bulandshahr , police said, adding that further investigation is underway to trace the wider network.