Etah/Mirzapur, Dec 22 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Police have intensified their crackdown on the alleged illegal trade, diversion and distribution of regulated codeine-based cough syrup, arresting six persons in separate operations in Etah and Mirzapur districts, officials said on Monday.

The action comes as the probe widened into the alleged codiene syrup trafficking racket, suspected to be involved in illicit trade estimated to be worth hundreds of crores -- with links stretching across several states and possibly beyond international borders.

In Etah, a joint team of the Agra anti-narcotics unit and Aliganj police recovered 47 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup, estimated to be worth around Rs 50 lakh, from a tobacco warehouse under Aliganj police station area limits Sunday night.

Four persons, including a retired serviceman, were arrested on the spot, police said.

According to police, the raid was carried out at a warehouse in Nagla Bani village following a tip-off. Preliminary investigation revealed that the seized cough syrup bore the name of a Baddi-based pharmaceutical company, 'Wings', but the batch numbers printed on the wrappers had been deliberately scratched off, indicating that the consignment was illegally manufactured.

The arrested accused have been identified as Jitendra Yadav, Jitendra Shakya, Pramod Shakya and Punjab Singh, a retired soldier. Cases have been registered against them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and other relevant sections, and further investigation is underway, police said.

Official sources said the Etah recovery is suspected to be linked to Varanasi-based drug trader, Shubham Jaiswal, who is allegedly associated with an international drug syndicate.

A lookout circular has already been issued against him, while his father was arrested earlier from Kolkata. The main accused remains absconding, officials said.

In a separate development, Mirzapur police arrested two more accused -- Ajit Yadav and Akshat Yadav -- in connection with a case of illegal supply of codeine-based cough syrup registered at Adalhat police station. The arrests were made on Sunday evening following sustained investigation of the suspects, police said.

According to officials, the two accused had allegedly floated firms using forged Aadhaar cards and supplied cough syrup through fake documentation.

During investigation, police found that transactions worth over Rs 1 crore had been routed through bank accounts opened in Varanasi in the name of the fake firms.

Police said Akshat Yadav, proprietor of a firm named A K Distributors, was supplied around 36 litre of New Phensedyl cough syrup (100 ml bottles) from a trader based in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

The firm was found to be non-functional on the ground, and records showed it had been opened only once or twice without carrying out any genuine pharmaceutical business.

Further scrutiny revealed that the Aadhaar card used for obtaining the drug licence carried a Mirzapur address and was forged, while a different Aadhaar card with a Varanasi address was used for banking purposes, pointing to deliberate fabrication of documents, police said. The firm's bank account in Varanasi showed a turnover of around Rs 1.28 crore.

The two accused have been booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the NDPS Act and sent to jail. Police said involvement of more suspects is likely and the investigation is ongoing.

Officials said the recoveries and arrests form part of a broader state-wide investigation into the illegal diversion of codeine-based cough syrup, a regulated drug. PTI COR KIS ARB ARB

Codeine syrup trafficking crackdown leads to seizures, arrests and charges under narcotics and fraud laws. Crackdown on illegal diversion of codeine-based cough syrup led to seizures and arrests after discovery of cartons with scratched batch numbers suggesting illicit manufacture; suspects have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Separate arrests involved operators of sham pharmaceutical firms using forged Aadhaar cards and false licences, with bank accounts showing large transactions; those accused face charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and NDPS provisions as part of a wider state-wide investigation into regulated drug diversion.