₹300 drugs for ₹6,000: SIT exposes counterfeit antibiotic racket

CH NEWS, BENGALURU A massive underground counterfeit pharmaceutical ring has been exposed on the outskirts of Bengaluru, sending shockwaves through the state's medical community. A dedicated Special Investigation Team probing the illicit network revealed that fraudsters were procuring ordinary, low-cost antibiotics for a fraction of their value, rebranding them with fake labels of high-end international pharmaceutical brands, and reselling them to unsuspecting patients at exorbitant markups. According to investigators, the sophisticated scam centered around two heavily prescribed, high-demand critical care antibiotics: Zavicefta and Emblaveo. While generic equivalents or alternate formulations are manufactured locally at baseline costs ranging between 200 and 300 rupees, the syndicate exploited massive price disparities. By illicitly repackaging these inexpensive drugs at an unauthorized facility near Bidadi, the racketeers affixed counterfeit packaging mimicking premium international brands whose genuine market prices run between 5000 and 8000 rupees per unit. Investigators estimate that the network successfully distributed roughly 15,000 spurious vials over the past year and a half. The clandestine operation came to light following coordinated raids on an unlicensed repackaging unit near the Bidadi toll gate, which led to the initial seizure of suspected fake medicines valued at over five crore rupees. Building on those preliminary discoveries, the SIT expanded its dragnet, executing coordinated multi-state search operations across Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Telangana to trace the source of raw material procurement and fake box printing operations. So far, law enforcement authorities have arrested seven primary individuals connected to the criminal syndicate. The investigation has since pushed deeper into local distribution channels, with recent raids targeting specific retail pharmacies and medical stockists across Bengaluru—including establishments in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Chamarajpet, and Thalaghattapura—to map out the secondary sales trail and identify any complicit healthcare facilities. State health officials and SIT commanders have vowed to dismantle every tier of the illicit network to restore total integrity to the pharmaceutical supply chain and protect vulnerable consumers.