72,000 bottles of banned cough syrup valued at Rs 1.2 crore seized in MP; two held

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh police have seized 72,000 bottles of a banned cough syrup containing codeine and arrested a man and his son, an official said on Sunday.

Additional Director General (Law and Order) Jaideep Prasad said the seizure of the codeine-based cough syrup bottles, packed in 800 boxes, was made in Sagar city recently.

The official said police initially received inputs that the cough syrup was being sold in Rewa. As they launched a probe, the source was traced to Sagar, he said.

The cough syrup bottles, valued at Rs 1.22 crore, were confiscated from a godown owned by one Arvind Jain, a resident of Sagar.

Arvind and his son Sattu Jain were arrested and booked under the MP Drugs Control Act and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, he said.

Cough syrups containing codeine, an opiate, have been widely abused, particularly among young people.