Kingpin of Codeine Cough Syrup Racket Arrested in Kanpur; Inter-State Network Busted

• Vinod Agrawal, the alleged kingpin of an inter-state codeine cough syrup and narcotic drugs racket, was arrested in Narnaul, Haryana, carrying a Rs 50,000 reward.
• Agrawal admitted to supplying codeine-based cough syrup to 47 firms, but police investigation revealed over 350 firms across multiple states were involved.
• Police estimate 20 lakh bottles of codeine-based syrup were illegally circulated; 11.5 lakh recovered, 8.5 lakh still untraced.
• The racket was exposed during an inspection at M/s Agrawal Brothers in Kanpur, revealing illegal storage and sale of Schedule-H/H1 drugs and codeine syrup.
• Eight criminal cases have been registered, and raids are ongoing to apprehend other accused, including Agrawal's son Shivam Agrawal.

Why It Matters: The alleged mastermind of a massive inter-state codeine cough syrup racket has been arrested in Kanpur.