Archive · 13 Aug 2026
NCB busts interstate drug network, seizes charas, codeine syrup
In Mumbai, a big city in India, there are special police called the Narcotics Control Bureau, or NCB, whose job is to keep dangerous drugs away from people.
Recently, they found lots of illegal drugs hidden in two different places.
Some drugs were found in a woman's house in an area called Ghatkopar, hidden among everyday household things.
The drugs included charas, which comes from the cannabis plant, and a special cough syrup and pain tablets that are only safe when a doctor prescribes them.
The police also stopped a bus coming from Gujarat and found bottles of the cough syrup on it.
In a storage room in Vadodara, they found even more bottles and tablets.
Altogether, they found more than 15,000 bottles of cough syrup, more than 12,000 tablets, and about one kilogram of charas.
Two people were arrested — a man and a woman.
The police think the drugs were going to be sold at higher prices in Mumbai and nearby towns during the upcoming festival season, when these drugs are harder to get.
The police are now looking for other people who may have helped with the plan.
The NCB seized 15,018 codeine-based cough syrup (CBCS) bottles, 12,240 Tramadol tablets and 1.06 kg of charas in two separate operations.
On August 8, 1,080 CBCS bottles weighing 108 kg were seized from a passenger bus travelling from Gujarat to Mumbai, and alleged trafficker N. Shaikh was arrested.
A Vadodara-based distributor's godown yielded another 13,938 syrup bottles and 12,240 Tramadol tablets, along with fake invoices and tampered batch numbers.
On August 12, 1.06 kg of charas was found concealed among household articles at the Ghatkopar, Mumbai residence of a woman identified as A. J. Shaikh.
The contraband was allegedly meant for retail sale in Mumbai, Bhiwandi and adjoining areas at higher prices during the upcoming festive season; two persons were arrested.
- Who
- Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials, who arrested a man, N. Shaikh, and a woman, A. J. Shaikh, in connection with an alleged interstate drug-trafficking network.
- What
- Seizure of 15,018 codeine-based cough syrup (CBCS) bottles, 12,240 Tramadol tablets and 1.06 kg of charas in two separate operations.
- When
- The bus consignment was seized on August 8, the charas on August 12, and officials announced the haul on Thursday, August 13, 2026.
- Where
- Mumbai (Ghatkopar area), a passenger bus travelling from Gujarat to Mumbai, and a distributor's godown in Vadodara, Gujarat.
- Why
- The contraband was allegedly procured for retail sale in Mumbai, Bhiwandi and adjoining areas at higher prices, exploiting a charas shortage caused by intensified drug enforcement and the upcoming festive season.
- Agency
- Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Mumbai
- Codeine-based cough syrup seized
- 15,018 bottles (1,080 from the bus; 13,938 from the Vadodara godown)
- Tramadol tablets seized
- 12,240 (from the Vadodara godown)
- Charas seized
- 1.06 kg, concealed among household articles at a residence in Ghatkopar, Mumbai
- Arrests
- 2 — N. Shaikh (man) and A. J. Shaikh (woman)
- Key dates
- August 8 (bus seizure); August 12 (charas seizure); announced August 13, 2026
- Evidence recovered
- Fake invoices and bottles with tampered batch numbers
- Prior offences
- N. Shaikh was earlier arrested by Maharashtra Police under the NDPS Act; the Gujarat distributor is wanted in NDPS cases
