Overview
- The FSDA Drug Enforcement Wing raided an unlicensed repackaging unit at a farmhouse near Bidadi and seized about ₹4.91–5 crore of suspected spurious and expired medicines following a tip-off on Tuesday, August 18.
- Officials recovered 5,640 vials of CEFIAVIGENT 2.5 worth roughly ₹3.38 crore along with thousands of other injectable vials, 30 boxes of expired drugs, an industrial filling unit, stoppers and forged labels.
- Investigators found non‑functional QR codes on labels and evidence of relabelling that listed multinational firms, which raised concern that counterfeit ICU and critical‑care drugs may have entered hospitals or pharmacies.
- Police and drug regulators have detained multiple suspects including a worker named Prabhudev Gowda, reported four arrests so far, and say a suspected operator called Prashanth is believed to be based abroad.
- Karnataka has blocked the seized batch numbers on the FSDA portal, sent samples for potency and sterility testing, and set up a six‑member SIT led by IPS C. Vamshikrishna to trace the supply chain, financial links and any institutions that received the drugs.