Enforcement Directorate freezes accounts and searches five Bengaluru sites in fake medicine racket

The Directorate of Enforcement has raided five locations in Karnataka and frozen a bank account holding about nine lakh rupees in connection with a fake medicine racket. The searches took place under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act following a police case filed on August 18, 2026.

Investigation Details

The case stems from an earlier joint raid by the Drug Controlling Authority and local police at a house in C.K. Tandya village, where officers found stored drugs kept without any valid licenses and saw workers replacing product labels. A Special Investigation Team led by Bengaluru Joint Commissioner Vamsi Krishna is handling the probe. Investigators state that a man named R. Prashanth arranged a farmhouse near Bidadi to make and repackage medicines without permits.

Fake Drug Operations

Cheap bulk medicines brought from other states were put into new vials and marked as costly Pfizer antibiotics like Zavicefta and Emblaveo. These fake products went through M/s DM Pharmaceuticals to M/s Krupa Healthcare, which then mixed them with real medicines to supply hospitals and other firms without getting caught.

Context

Counterfeit pharmaceuticals pose severe public health risks because fake or improperly formulated drugs lack the active ingredients needed to treat serious infections. Regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies work together to trace illegal supply chains and dismantle money-laundering networks tied to such illicit operations.