LUCKNOW, Oct. 12 -- Uttar Pradesh's Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) has intensified its crackdown on a network smuggling codeine-based syrups. Over the weekend, FSDA teams raided more than 30 locations across the state in a drive against illegal pharmaceutical trade.

The two-day operation, carried out in Ghazipur, Kanpur, Bareilly, Agra, and Lucknow, comes amid growing concerns over the misuse of codeine syrups by addicts and their movement through clandestine cross-border channels.

In Lucknow, officials seized cough syrups worth over Rs.3 lakh during a raid in Sneh Nagar near Singar Nagar on Saturday. The syrups, suspected to contain codeine, were sent for laboratory testing. A man identified as Deepak Manwani was arrested w...