Lucknow, Dec. 4 -- What started as a routine seizure of a cough syrup consignment in Sonbhadra district on October 18 has evolved into an extensive narcotics investigation stretching across states, according to officials privy to the probe. As Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) teams in Uttar Pradesh delved beyond paperwork, they uncovered a meticulously organised multi-crore codeine smuggling syndicate operating in the shadows of the pharmaceutical supply chain. The breakthrough came after FSDA officials led by their secretary and commissioner Roshan Jacob decided to verify the suspicious trail on the ground. According to officials, initial leads suggested large-scale misuse of codeine-an opioid-being diverted into illegal narcotics networks. First, FSDA teams visited the Narcotics Bureau in Gwalior to obtain details of the authorised codeine quota allotted to pharmaceutical companies. After getting the information they came to know that codeine is manufactured only in Ghazipur (UP) and Neemuch (MP). There are no licensed cough syrup manufacturing units in Uttar Pradesh, prompting teams to track the trail to Himachal Pradesh where the codeine-based cough syrups are manufactured. FSDA Teams then travelled to Paonta Sahib and Baddi in HP, where firms were manufacturing and dispensing codeine-based syrups. Records there revealed how much stock was being earmarked for UP and which marketing firms were receiving it. FSDA investigators found that one company supplied codeine-based syrup through five marketing firms under different brand names, while another supplied a major brand. Once these suppliers were identified, FSDA teams inspected their C and F agents and godowns to probe any discrepancies in their paperwork. The trail led to distributors, super stockists and wholesalers across districts. Drug inspectors were deployed in 40 districts to verify stock. Nearly 50% of the stockists failed to produce sale records, the other sub-stockists did not have papers to prove to whom they had given the stock. The missing documentation gave the clue to a cross-border smuggling route via Pilibhit, Puranpur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich into Nepal. This was confirmed by the stockists when they were probed by the team. For the first time, FSDA filed cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, breaking from the earlier practice where only action under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act was taken. In cases involving falsified records, FIRs were lodged under BNS. A major breakthrough came when FSDA discovered that Saili Traders, a Ranchi-based firm, had sold Rs 100 crore worth of cough syrup in 2024. Tracking its purchase records took FSDA teams to Varanasi, where the stock had been supplied to 22 wholesale licensees. Investigations revealed that New Vriddhi Pharma, owned by Shubham Jaiswal, was directly linked to Saili Traders. FSDA discovered the Ranchi firm belonged to his father, Bhola Prasad Jaiswal. The connection came to light because Bhola's name appeared in Shubham's licensing documents. Another accused, Saurabh Tyagi of Ghaziabad, also named Shubham in his statement. FSDA consolidated the lists of Saili Traders, the Ghaziabad transactions and previous FIRs, identifying 70 "high-risk" stockists. Eventually, FIRs were filed against 36 stockists for major paperless transactions in November. The FSDA teams in Varanasi found many so-called wholesalers had no offices, no godowns, and no physical stock. In one instance, when Roshan Jacob herself went to a stockist, the firm was found operating only with a chair and table in an open area and admitted to being linked only to Shubham Jaiswal. Several others were found running operations from their drawing rooms and even bedrooms, claiming they did not store stock but merely booked orders and received commission per bottle. This exposed a loophole: wholesale drug licences require no pharmacist, no shop verification, and no mandatory godown, relying only on "experience certificates"-many of which were found to be issued fraudulently by stockists to each other. FSDA secretary and commissioner Roshan Jacob said many more suspects are under surveillance and the crackdown will continue. The department is now preparing to overhaul the wholesale licensing system. Jacob said that what began as a codeine audit has now revealed a complex interstate network involving manufacturers, marketing firms, super-stockists, shadow wholesalers and cross-border smugglers. According to an FSDA press release, FIRs have been registered against 118 firms and operators under the BNS (2023 and NDPS Act 1985. Codeine phosphate and NDPS medicines fall under Schedules H and H1 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules and can only be sold on prescription with mandatory record-keeping....