Delhi Crime Branch arrests 17 in alleged anti-cancer drug racket

Seventeen people have been arrested in an alleged network that Delhi Police say supplied expensive anti-cancer medicines through Delhi-NCR and other cities.

The Crime Branch said it recovered 588 filled anti-cancer drug vials, six empty vials, seven empty medicine boxes and 3,021 units of other medicines during raids in Delhi and Navi Mumbai. Police estimated the medicines at about Rs 9 crore and said teams also recovered around Rs 50 lakh in cash, electronic devices, packaging material, registers and diaries.

Police alleged that the network sourced medicines through unauthorised channels. Investigators are examining whether some products were counterfeit or had been diverted from hospitals and government institutions.

According to police, old cartons and empty boxes were reused, and batch numbers, MRP details and other identifiers were removed or altered before products were sent to buyers.

The Inter-State Cell received information about the alleged racket on June 22 and formed seven teams for coordinated raids on July 11. An FIR was registered at the Crime Branch police station on July 12. Police said they are continuing to investigate the alleged hospital-diversion angle.