According to the ED’s probe 13,800 kg of Tramadol, worth about ₹4.12 crore, went first to CHR Olesen Pharmaceuticals in Denmark, and then onward to Pakistan.
Published Aug 11, 2025 | 11:06 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 11, 2025 | 11:06 PM
Illegally exporting Tramadol — a psychotropic opioid painkiller — to Pakistan. (Representative image)
Synopsis: The Enforcement Directorate has charged Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd. and its executives with illegally exporting the Tramadol to Pakistan, bypassing bans by rerouting shipments through Denmark and Malaysia. Allegedly using forged documents, the firm laundered ₹5.46 crore in proceeds. The Special PMLA Court took cognisance, and properties matching the illegal earnings’ value have been seized.
It begins like any other pharma export story, an Indian company making medicines, securing approvals, and shipping to foreign clients. But somewhere along the way, the paperwork went from “authorised” to “forged,” and the consignments began taking a detour across borders India never approved.
Now, the Enforcement Directorate’s Hyderabad Zonal Office has filed a prosecution complaint against Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd., its Managing Director Vinod Jain, Associate VP Devarasetty Sai Vikas, Logistics and Sales Executive Gangula Eswara Rao, and others.
The charge? Illegally exporting Tramadol — a psychotropic opioid painkiller — to Pakistan in violation of the NDPS Act. The Special PMLA Court in Hyderabad took cognisance of the case on 6 August.
Tramadol is not your everyday paracetamol. It’s a synthetic opioid that blocks pain signals in the brain. Doctors prescribe it for moderate to severe pain; traffickers push it for its euphoric effects. In several countries, it’s tightly controlled, because of its misuse in illegal markets.
Lucent Drugs initially did everything by the book. The company obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Central Bureau of Narcotics to export Tramadol to Pakistan. But then, the approvals stopped. Subsequent applications were denied outright.
That should have been the end of the export story. Instead, investigators say it was the start of an elaborate re-routing operation.
ED, Hyderabad has filed Prosecution Complaint (PC) before the Hon’ble Special PMLA Court, Hyderabad against M/s Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd. and others in relation to psychotropic substances, their illegal export from India under the provisions of PMLA, 2002. The Hon’ble Court has…
— ED (@dir_ed) August 11, 2025
When direct exports to Pakistan were barred, Lucent Drugs allegedly found a workaround.
According to the ED’s probe 13,800 kg of Tramadol, worth about ₹4.12 crore, went first to CHR Olesen Pharmaceuticals in Denmark, and then onward to Pakistan.
Similarly, another 5,000 kg, valued at around ₹1.34 crore, travelled via SM Biomed in Malaysia, before landing in Pakistan.
This way, the consignments avoided the India–Pakistan export prohibition — at least on paper.
The Bengaluru zone of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had already filed an FIR stating that Lucent Drugs’ executives forged export authorisations and other documents. The ED’s Hyderabad team picked up the thread, tracing shipment records, payment routes, and customs filings.
They found that the export proceeds of about ₹5.46 crore landed in Lucent’s bank accounts and were blended into the company’s legitimate earnings from other countries. In money laundering terms, this is “projecting tainted funds as untainted.”
The ED has already attached immovable assets factory buildings, land parcels, and other properties worth roughly the same value as the alleged illegal proceeds. These seizures form part of the agency’s wider crackdown on cross-border drug smuggling under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Sumit Jha)
