Adulterated and unapproved medicines, including children’s syrups, capsules and tablets, were being manufactured and stored for sale from a flat in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, where the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police seized medicines and manufacturing equipment worth around Tk1 crore and arrested three members of the gang during a raid.
The DB is also searching for doctors who prescribed the unapproved medicines to patients. DB chief and Additional Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam said legal action would be taken against doctors found to be involved.
He shared the information in response to journalists’ questions at a press conference on Wednesday at the DMP Media Center.
Md Shafiqul Islam said the DB conducted the raid on Tuesday based on intelligence information at a third-floor flat in a building on Block-C of Dhaka Uddyan Road under Mohammadpur Police Station.
The arrested are Abdullah Al-Mamun, 42, Md Saju, 33, and Md Sajib, 26.
A large quantity of adulterated medicines was recovered, including syrups, capsules, shampoos, face washes, hygiene washes, soaps, powders and tablets.
The seized items include 192 bottles of KIDZ Omega Liquid 100ml syrup, 100 boxes of LACTOFLEX Capsules, 30 Facy GLOW Face Wash, 150 Detox Plus Shampoo, 70 Pedia Vox Kid Syrup, 300 strips of Osearc-CD capsules, 5kg of Oriva Hapes white powder, 50 BIOKET Active Shampoo, 800 KIDICARE Syrup Plus 100ml, 70 ZERO DAN Shampoo, 40 KETCOR-Z Shampoo and 10 Nutramide Syrup.
Also recovered were 150 empty packets of INTA CLEAN HYGIENE WASH, 80 unpackaged bottles of Hygiene Wash, 300 empty packets of PERMIMITE Soap, 80 Spiruva (Spirulina) leaflets, 100 polythene covers for face wash, 300 unlabelled syrup bottles, 400 white plastic containers, 100 unlabelled white tablets and 500 empty green capsule shells.
The DB also seized 3 cylinders used in making the medicines, a fuel-filling machine, 2 capsule-filling machines, 10kg of fuel in polythene, 6 capsule-filling machine parts and 2 label-attaching stamps.
The DB chief said several syrups and liquid products for children were among the recovered items. He said the adulterated and unapproved medicines could pose a serious risk to children’s lives and health.
A case was filed at Mohammadpur Police Station under the Special Powers Act against the 3 arrested, accusing them of keeping adulterated medicines in their possession for sale.
Asked how ordinary people can identify adulterated medicines, Md Shafiqul Islam said it is extremely difficult to recognize them. However, he said they can in many cases be identified by closely examining the medicine’s packaging and the relevant company’s packaging.
He said some of the medicines found in the raid are not in circulation in the country and, according to preliminary information, were imported from a neighboring country. He also said the medicines were being prescribed to patients through certain doctors.
Asked how much medicine the gang had already supplied to the market, given that medicines worth about Tk1 crore were seized, the DB chief said the matter was under investigation.
Documents found during the raid are being reviewed, he said, adding that everyone involved would be brought under the law after the investigation.
Md Shafiqul Islam said the seized medicines included foreign products, and whether they were legally imported into the country was also being investigated.
The DB chief said some medicines for children were also found during the raid. Among them, he identified a syrup named Kidocare as counterfeit. Some medicines for children related to Kid Omega and Vitamin D3 were also seized.
