Ex-UP cop busted in ₹1,000cr cough syrup smuggling case
A former Uttar Pradesh constable, Alok Pratap Singh, has been arrested for helping run a massive ₹1,000 crore codeine-based cough syrup smuggling racket.
The syndicate, in which Singh was a key facilitator, allegedly used fake companies and forged invoices to move over 89 lakh bottles of syrup before December 2025.
He'd already been dismissed from the police twice before his arrest on December 2 in Lucknow.
How the racket worked—and what's happening now
Singh invested money in the operation and mentored new recruits using his police and political connections.
The STF seized luxury items from his mansion during raids and recovered 3.5 lakh bottles of cough syrup worth ₹4.5 crore.
So far, 32 people have been arrested while one key suspect reportedly fled to Dubai.
Over 120 FIRs have been filed as investigators dig into how the syndicate moved drugs across several Indian states—and even into Bangladesh and Nepal.