Codeine scam: 5 close aides of kingpin held

Varanasi: In a major crackdown on the codeine cough syrup smuggling syndicate, a special investigation team arrested five key associates of kingpin Shubham Jaiswal at Bhorsar Link Road, Mirzapur Bypass, on Sunday. The detained individuals allegedly earned Rs 8 crore from hawala transactions involving 25 lakh bottles of syrup, part of the Rs 40 crore handled by the syndicate.
DCP Kashi zone Gaurav Banswal said the accused — Amit Jaiswal, Divesh Jaiswal, Ghanshyam, Abhinav Kumar Yadav and Ankush Singh — were arrested in connection with a case lodged under sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 318(4) (cheating), 338 (forgery), 336(3), and 340(2) (fraud) of BNS, and also relevant sections of the NDPS Act. Police recovered 46 foreign currency notes and a high-end mobile phone from them.As the investigation progressed, Banswal said it came to light that the accused became part of a criminal conspiracy with other co-accused and used fake and forged GST invoices and e-way bills through Shelly Traders, Ranchi, Jharkhand, to buy and sell large quantities of codeine cough syrup through various medical firms for non-medicinal narcotic use. Several accused have already been arrested in Varanasi.The quintet, arrested on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, revealed that Vikas Singh, Amit Singh Tata, Prashant Upadhyay, Akash Pathak, Gaurav Jaiswal, Manoj Yadav, Divesh Jaiswal, Ankush Singh, and others attended meetings at Shubham's KBN Plaza. The meeting focused on codeine cough syrup trafficking, money laundering, and ash distribution to firmsThey said they received little stock at their firms, while a major proportion of supplies made in the name of their firms were trafficked by Shubham, Prashant, Manoj, Pratik, and Dharmendra Agarwal. Through the firms opened by these members, Shubham and Prashant received cash, while payments were also received via RTGS by different syndicate members, and later diverted to Shubham's accounts via RTGS.They revealed that they trafficked 25 lakh bottles of syrup worth Rs 40 crore, and were given Rs 8 crore as their share. The arrested individuals disclosed that several consignments from their firms were seized in West Bengal, Bihar, and Tripura, prompting notices. Shubham allegedly directed them to prepare e-way bills and respond to these notices, handling further actions himself. He also instructed Prashant, Akash Pathak, Manoj, Dharmendra, Pratik, and others to obtain documents and set up firms for codeine syrup trafficking.