ED takes action against fake medicine network, conducts search operations at five locations

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has taken stringent action against individuals and entities involved in a large fake medicine network in Karnataka. The agency conducted search and seizure operations at five different locations in Bengaluru in this matter. During this investigation, a bank account of an accused containing approximately ₹9 lakh was also frozen.

This entire action has been carried out under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. It has been conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering arising from an FIR registered at Tavarekere Police Station on 18 August, 2026. In this case, offences were registered under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957. As these offences are scheduled offences under PMLA, the ED registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) and initiated a money laundering investigation.

The case originated on 18 August with a joint raid conducted by the Drug Controlling Authority and police personnel at a residential property located in C.K. Tandya village. At that time, it was found that the accused were in possession of medicines and pharmaceutical drugs without valid licenses, permits, or authorization, and they were altering the labels of the stored medicines. Currently, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Bengaluru Joint Commissioner (West) Vamsi Krishna is investigating this case.

According to the ED investigation, an individual named R. Prashant had arranged a farmhouse near Bidadi, where the production, repackaging, and relabeling of medicines were being carried out without the necessary drug licenses or permits. Cheap bulk pharmaceutical formulations were obtained from production centres in various states and repacked into new vials. Subsequently, fraudulent labels of expensive Pfizer antibiotics, including Zavicefta and Emblaveo, were applied to these vials. In reality, these vials contained only generic medicines, but they were labelled with names bearing the Pfizer brand.

The distribution of these fake medicines was being carried out by M/s DM Pharmaceuticals and they were being supplied to M/s Krupa Healthcare. Subsequently, Krupa Healthcare would supply these medicines to other pharmaceutical entities and hospitals. The investigation has revealed that these fake medicines were mixed with genuine medicines to avoid detection, the ED stated.

During the search operation, the agency froze the bank account of Viresh Kumar, which contained approximately ₹9 lakh. In addition, digital devices, records, and other criminal documents of various individuals have also been seized. The agency is now conducting further investigations to identify how large this alleged money laundering network is and to trace the proceeds of crime.