Jammu, May 06: A special team of drugs control officers conducted inspections of the courier companies after the recent inputs that habit-forming synthetic drugs have been making their way illegally from neighboring states through small courier companies and that such channels are being used by some nefarious elements to influx the consignments in a clandestine manner,
Accordingly, surprise checks of godowns of courier service providers were carried out by the sleuths of the Drugs & Food Control Organization to cross-check that the pharmaceutical consignments are being transported as per proper rules into the UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
During the drive, the offices and godowns of various prominent courier companies were inspected wherein the UT-bound consignments were checked randomly to ensure that no pharmaceutical preparations prone to addiction may be brought in J&K through these channels.
Moreover, the stocks of drugs worth Rs 90,000 that were being transported in contravention of the rules were seized on the spot and action as warranted under the Act has been initiated. Notices have been served upon the defaulters and licenses of the firms whose names surfaced during the investigation have been cancelled.
The Representatives of courier service providers were impressed upon to follow the SOPs while handling consignments of pharmaceutical preparations and inform the Department regarding suspicious consignments.
Mohammad Iqbal Palla, Deputy Drugs Controller, Jammu informed that the government has constituted Nocord Committees to keep a check on the trafficking of habit-forming drugs so that the public at large could be safeguarded from intoxication. The field functionaries have been directed to keep a strict vigil on the movement of such drugs and checks are being conducted randomly in this perspective, he said.
State Drugs Controller, Lotika Khajuria informed that the illegal flow of habit-forming drugs supplied from other states, either manufacturing states or consumer states has emerged as a big challenge. “The department has issued strict instruction where under the purchase, sale and distribution of certain habit-forming drugs could not be done without a written authentic order of the purchaser,” he said.
Moreover, the trade fraternity has once again been impressed upon not to procure lesser-known brands of such drugs directly from outside the UT.
