Fake medicines are being smuggled across the country including Delhi.
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Anup Kumar Singh, New Delhi. In the country including Delhi, the business of re-launching expired medicines through new labels, barcodes and repackaging and selling fake medicines is continuously increasing. Despite the strictness and joint operations of the police and related departments, their network does not seem to be weakening.
Between 2021 and June 2025, more than six thousand such cases were registered and about eight thousand accused were arrested. While more than 45 lakh tablets, capsules and injections were seized. Which are increasing public health concerns. These are the cases which came to light due to the action of police and agencies while many deals and supply chains are still out of control.
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization's monthly drug alert reports 2024–25 show that during this period, a large number of drug samples were declared 'not of standard quality' (less than standard quality), while many samples were found 'spurious' (fake).
These included paracetamol, antibiotics and other commonly used medicines. Due to lack of public awareness, strict monitoring and transparent distribution system, curbing it still remains a big challenge. The complexity of the supply chain, limited inspection resources and the activity of illegal networks are promoting this.
566 cases and 857 arrests were recorded in 2021. In 2022, cases increased to 1343 and 1573 arrests. There were 1,415 cases and 1,736 in 2023. In 2024, this figure further increased to 1,854 cases and 2,290 arrests. In 2025, till June, 1439 arrests were made in 1680 such cases. In these five years, 7895 accused were arrested in a total of 6860 cases.
-More than 42 thousand tablets and injections were seized in 2021. -More than 5.64 lakh tablets were seized in 2022. -More than 6.38 lakh tablets were seized in 2023. -More than 28 lakh tablets and capsules were seized in 2024. -Lakhs of pharmaceutical medicines were seized in 2025 (till June).
Under Section 18 and 27 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, there is a provision of strict punishment for the manufacture and sale of counterfeit, adulterated or mislabeled medicines. This includes life imprisonment. The penalties were made more stringent after the 2008 amendment. The rules of Good Manufacturing Practice were tightened under the amended Schedule-M in December 2023. Traceability of medicines has been ensured by making QR codes mandatory.
Still the business is going strong
Despite such large-scale action and seizure of fake and repackaged expired medicines, the network of traders does not seem to be completely broken. The increasing seizure of banned psychotropic drugs like Tramadol, Alprazolam, Nitrozepam and codeine based drugs shows that the nature of the business is changing but not the business itself.
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