By IANS
Mumbai : Authorities have seized 2.5 million pills of restricted drugs estimated to be worth nearly Rs.10 million, saying a businessman was planning to sell them illegally via the Internet.
The seizures followed a raid by the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and police at an office at Kalbadevi in Mumbai.
The FDA Monday said the businessman, 32-year-old Pranav Thaker, used to illegally sell addictive drugs meant solely for export. He used to buy them without proper documents or records, de-foil them and re-pack them to sell to international customers via the Internet at prices upwards of $1.85 per tablet.
Most of the drugs seized during the raid Nov 26 are used to treat diseases like obesity, psychosis, anxiety and depression, while some are aphrodisiacs. These fall in the category of fast-moving items on the Internet.
Joint Commissioner of the state FDA Suhas Chaudhari told IANS: “The pills we have seized included formulations that comprised ingredients like Diazepam, Alprazolam, Sibutramine Hydrochloride Monohydrate, Sildenafil and Vardenafil.”
Thaker was arrested Nov 26 and is now on interim bail till Dec 18. Chaudhari said if convicted, he could face a minimum of three years of imprisonment.
According to Chaudhari, Thaker had admitted to hosting two websites – www.relaxpills.com and www.cialiswarehouse.com – to lure customers from around the world.
The analyses of computer hard disk records of these two websites has revealed a list of 3,500 customers who had placed orders for one or more of the drugs hawked by Thaker.
The disks have been sent to Mumbai Police for further investigations, Chaudhari said.
Chaudhari said the FDA had succeeded in identifying the main stockist of the drugs and had sent samples of the pills to a government laboratory for testing.
Several attempts by IANS to speak to Thaker failed. His mobile phone appeared to have been switched off.
Police and FDA investigations will also attempt to unravel how drugs meant specifically for export found their way into the domestic market.