New Delhi, June 18 – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted search operations at 15 locations across Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra as part of a widening probe into an organised drug trafficking and money laundering nexus.
The action stems from a First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Punjab Police’s Special Task Force (STF) under various provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The case involves two alleged drug traffickers and a middleman identified as Alex Paliwal.
“These raids are part of ongoing efforts to dismantle a well-entrenched drug syndicate operating through a complex web of intermediaries and front companies,” said an ED official familiar with the investigation.
Among those covered in Tuesday’s operations were several pharmaceutical firms, including M/s Biogenetic Drugs Pvt Ltd, M/s CB Healthcare, M/s Smilax Pharmachem Drug Industries, M/s Soul Health Care (I) Pvt Ltd, and M/s Aster Pharma, along with associated individuals.
The ED suspects that these entities may have played a role in illegally manufacturing or diverting pharmaceutical substances for narcotics trade, with proceeds allegedly laundered through layered transactions.
Further details about seizures or arrests, if any, were awaited as the searches continued late into the evening.
