FDA serves show-cause notice on drug trader

Nagpur, Jun 25, 2019: More troubles seem to be brewing for city-based pharmaceutical distributor Jeetendra Belani to whom state Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a show-cause notice on Monday.

Belani is now in the custody of Prague police in Czech Republic following a trap set up by US agency FBI for supplying controlled and prohibited drugs to Americans. A warrant was issued against Belani on May 16 by the western district court of Pennsylvania. FBI would now try for extradition of Belani to US. The Prague municipal court would hear the arguments on July 12 next month.

Against the backdrop of Belani’s arrest at Prague on June 3, FDA too seemed to have woken up. On June 17, FDA inspectors had conducted a raid at the premises of Belani’s firm LeeHPL Ventures Pvt Ltd at Central Avenue. A notice has now been issued asking Belani to explain in four days the drugs he had been stocking and storing at the premises.

According to sources in FDA, Belani’s employees at the firm were unable to reveal any details about the drugs he had been exporting. “Though Union ministry of commerce issued Belani a licence to export, FDA Nagpur gave him the licence to store and stock drugs in 2012,” said the source.

It is learnt FDA authorities had questioned LeeHPL authorities regarding the analgesic drug ‘Tramadol’ which is included under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act from it’s earlier status of Schedule H1.

FDA sources claimed FBI was keeping a watch on Belani and other India-based pharmaceutical exporters since 2013 when they came to know about banned and controlled drugs being shipped to US. Another firm ‘Hriday Enterprise’ is also on FBI radar, it is learnt.

Sources claimed drugs were also being sent to UK. Apart from analgesics, aphrodisiacs and tranquilizers, the Indian companies were also sending anti-fertility drugs to US and UK where they are banned.

An insider in the trade said there were several pharmaceutical distributors in the city engaged in the supplying controlled and prohibited drugs to foreign countries whose fate depends on interrogation of Belani. Times Of India