Meghalaya: Banned phensedyl cough syrup worth Rs 50 lakh seized from abandoned truck in East Jaintia Hills

Meghalaya police have seized over 44,000 bottles of banned phensedyl cough syrup worth close to Rs 50 lakh from an abandoned truck in East Jaintia Hills district, police said on Wednesday. 

Acting on a tip-off, police detected two trucks coming from the opposite direction at Lumshnong both bearing the same registration numbers. While the truck proceeding from Assam stopped, the other drove rashly instead and when pursued, the driver abandoned it, district SP Jagpal Dhanoa told the media. 

When police searched the truck in the presence of independent witnesses, 150 bags containing 44,900 bottles (100 ml) of each of banned phensedyl syrup were recovered. 

The latest seizure comes a few days after the Meghalaya police busted a fake phensedyl factory in the nearby West Jaintia Hills district in which 3 persons were arrested. 

Also Read: Meghalaya police bust spurious cough syrup factory in East Jaintia Hills, 3 arrested

The cost of a 100ml phensedyl bottle is around Rs 100 in India while it fetches nearly 10 times its price in Bangladesh.

Earlier on October 1, three people were arrested after a factory where spurious cough syrups were made was busted in Meghalaya.

The spurious cough syrups made with phensedyl, which is addictive, were smuggled to Bangladesh, they said. 

Acting on a tip-off, police raided a godown in East Jaintia Hills district's Khliehriat from where 9,883 bottles of cough syrups were seized, SP Jagpal Dhanoa told media, adding that a person was also arrested. 

The arrest led the police to the factory in Ummulong where these cough syrups were made, he said. The factory used to be operated in the basement of the house, the owner of which told the police that the spurious cough syrups mainly were sent across the border to Bangladesh, the SP said. 

From the factory, 600 bottles of elcodyl cough syrup, 10 bottles of flavouring agent, 11 bottles of food colour, a huge quantity of phensedyl, and books on Pharmacology were seized, he said.