A file photo of medicines. PHOTO: FILE
Spurious drugs have been seized from shops and warehouses in Tajpura and Lohari, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director Usman Anwar said on Tuesday.
“Machinery and raw materials were also seized in the joint raids by the FIA and the Health Department on Monday night and Tuesday,” Anwar told the media.
He said an FIA team led by Assistant Director Mian Asif had arrested Inzaar Ahmad and Nazakat from Tajpura and Zubair from a medicine market in Lohari.
“The ‘medicines’ seized include some lifesaving drugs marketed by reputed national and multinational pharmaceutical laboratories.”
Anwar said the machinery seized was used to package the spurious drugs. He said the accused had confessed to manufacturing the ‘drugs’ with the connivance of several Health Department officers including a drug inspector. Anwar said the FIA had arrested three men involved in distribution and sale of these medicines on Tuesday. They have been identified as Taimur Qaiser, Irtiza and Shaikh Khawar.
The FIA director said the expiry dates of several ‘medicines’ had been tampered. He said the agency was looking for two suspects Mohsin and Shaikh Shahid.
He said the samples of Exelza, Penegra, Amoxil and eight raw materials had been found spurious by the Drug Testing Lab Punjab, Lahore.
“Post-arrest bail petition of Irteza has been rejected by a drug court,” he added.
Illegal gateway exchange busted
A National Response Centre for Cyber Crime (NR3C) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) team unearthed an illegal gateway exchange in Johar Town, Lahore, on Tuesday.
The raiding team comprising Inspector Rai Nasrullah, ASI Sohail Shahzad and hardware engineer Muhammad Usman seized a VoIP (voice over internet protocol) from a house in Johar Town, FIA Additional Director Azhar Mehmood told The Express Tribune.
He said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the police had also helped the FIA in the raid.
Mehmood said the team seized gateways, internet devices, computers, routers and SIMs. He said Muhammad Imran, a worker, had been arrested in the raid.
Passengers travelling on fake documents arrested
Separately, the Immigration Wing of the FIA on Wednesday arrested three passengers from Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore, for trying to go abroad using fake documents.
FIA said Muhammad Mushtaq and Allah Ditta were arrested after a fake medical certificate for Libya was found from their luggage.
Mushtaq told the FIA that he had paid Rs0.3 million to agents Gul Faraz and Adeel. Allah Ditta said he had paid Rs0.35 million to agents Riaz and Asim. FIA said Ali Zain, travelling to Dubai, was arrested after photocopies of passport issued From South Africa were recovered from him. The Immigration Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency said a Dubai-based agent, Naeem Ali, had made the arrangements to send him to South Africa from Dubai.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 3rd, 2014.
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