Some Call centres in India sell Banned Drugs

Online pharmacies, mushrooming across the country and cashing in on the increasing demand for controlled psychotropic drugs in countries like the US and Canada, have found competition. The Narcotics Control Bureau has stumbled upon a major call centre in Hyderabad doing illegal business in selling psychotropic substances. The NCB cracked down on this call centre, Limra IT Solutions, and arrested its MD Imran Khan.

NCB sources in Chennai said many such call centres are active in Hyderabad and Bangalore and a few in Chennai are under its scanner. They said spurious drug manufacturers, along with agents and call centres, have turned the sale of controlled psychotropic drugs into a hugely profitable business model. The Drug Enforcement Administration, the US agency for regulation of sales and licencing of pharmacies in that country, has been providing information regarding this in India.


NCB south zone director Davidson Devasirvatham says that the trade has expanded to a multi-million dollar business model. "The availability of spurious drugs and the possibility of easy procurement of these products across the counter has made India one of the preferred locations for drug abusers in the US and Canada. Both online pharmacies and call centres are now competing with each other to get more clients," said Devasirvatham.

The NCB has cracked 10 such cases, including two in Tamil Nadu, since 2002. They had also arrested nine persons. In 2009, they seized 45 kg of prescription drugs ready for despatch from the mail sorting section of the Chennai airport.

"These call centres are started by those who worked with call centres engaged in the pharma business. They get registered to a website, which lists people who want these drugs. The employees then make calls to the US and other countries to establish contact and to obtain orders. Once the orders are placed, they collect the mailing and billing addresses and the payment is made through credit cards. They use courier firms and shipping agents to send these drugs abroad. Tamil Nadu has been a procurement centre of such drugs and so is Mumbai," Devasirvatham said.

Psychotropic drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, alprazolam, zolipitem, nitrozopam, amphetamine and methamphetamine are in great demand in the US. "While online pharmacies are mainly operated by Indians settled abroad who use agents here, the call centres are run by our techies. The clients, based outside, need not be the ones who indulge in substance abuse. They could just be a supplier based there," he said.

As a result, spurious drug makers are teaming up with them and selling controlled drugs to customers outside India. NCB has identified a Mumbai manufacturer who has been a regular supplier to these rackets. "Even reputed courier services are used for shipment of these drugs," he added.