The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, has provisionally attached immovable properties worth ₹5.67 crore on Wednesday, February 19 in the case of illegal export of Tramadol by M/s Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd. ED investigation revealed that Lucent Drugs has been in the business of manufacturing and exporting of Tramadol, an opioid pain medication, to its overseas clients including those based in Pakistan.
The attached assets, under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, include land, building and factory premises belonging to M/s Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd. situated at Sangareddy district, Telangana. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initiated an investigation based on a complaint filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bangalore Zonal Unit, under Section 36A of the NDPS Act, 1985, for contraventions related to psychotropic substances, including their illegal export from India. The case also involves violations of orders under the NDPS Act and forgery of records and documents concerning various export authorisations by Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd.
“Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd. initially secured a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Central Bureau of Narcotics to export Tramadol to Pakistan. However, subsequent applications for NOCs to export Tramadol to Pakistan were not approved by the Bureau,” said an officer from ED.
Despite this, the promoters and directors of Lucent Drugs Pvt. Ltd. illegally re-exported 13,800 kg of Tramadol, worth approximately ₹4.12 crore, to Pakistan via M/s CHR Olesen Pharmaceuticals, a Denmark-based company, and an additional 5,000 kg valued at around ₹1.33 crore through M/s SM Biomed, a Malaysia-based firm. The company received export proceeds from these transactions, generating a total of approximately ₹5.46 crore in Proceeds of Crime (POC), which were credited to its bank accounts from the unlawful exports.
