The Special Intelligence and Investigation Branch ( SIIB) of customs at Mundra Port in Gujarat, seized conseignments of regulated medicines worth Rs. 110 crore illegally being sent to Africa. The two conseignments originated in Rajkot. The Customs have initiated searches at Rajkot, Gandhinagar, and Gandhidham.
The two consignments were destined for Siera Leone and Niger, declaring them the same as Diclofenac and Gebedol, the permitted medicines. On top of the packs of declared medicines, the prohibited and highly regulated medicines Tramaking 225 and Royal 225 contained 225 grams of tramadol hydrochloride.
The strips and the boxes with 68 lakh tablets did not have the names of the manufacturers or the place where they were made.
Section 8(c) of the NDPS Act, 1985, clearly prohibits the export of Tramadol, which is an opioid painkiller and a psychotropic substance, as notified under the NDPS Act in 2018.
Though meant for medicinal purposes and a boon for those suffering from extremely unbearable pain after very serious surgeries, Trandamol has come to be misused by drug addicts.
It got a further bad name after it was revealed that ISIS fighters used it to stay awake for long hours, giving it the epitaph “fighter drug.”
In high demand in African nations like Nigeria, Ghana, etc., the seizure of this synthetic drug by Mundra Customs is among the largest.
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