A medical shop at Kadavanthra was allegedly found selling prescription drugs over the counter during a joint raid conducted by the Excise special squad and Drugs Control department in Kochi on September 13 (Friday).The raid was conducted at the shop following a tip-off received by Excise Commissioner Mahipal Yadav. Central Zone Joint Excise Commissioner N. Ashok Kumar oversaw the raid, which started in the afternoon and lasted till night. During the raid, the medical shop was found to be buying Tramadol tablets, a schedule drug belonging to the H1 category and widely abused by students and youngsters, in large quantities and allegedly selling them without any prescription. Since July 2024, the medical shop was found to have purchased 20,910 Tramadol tablets and sold 18,535, out of which 2,758 were found to have been sold without any documents, said Excise officials. Spasmonil tablets, also being widely abused, were also allegedly found to have been sold without prescriptions. Bulk stock of OCB cigarette rolling papers, widely used by drub abusers, were also found in the shop. The drug control authorities have issued notice to the shop directing not to sell such items, which promoted drug abuse and smoking.The owner of the medical shop was found to have 13 medical shops across the district. Inspections would be held in those shops as well in the coming days to verify whether they were also involved in similar practices, said officials. Possessing Tramadol, which is mostly prescribed as a painkiller by medical practitioners, in excess of 5 grams without prescription is an offence punishable with 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment. Stern action would be taken against those found indulging in such illegal practices by using medical shop licence as a cover, said officials. Drug Control authorities said they would take stern action, including suspension of licence of the medical shop concerned. Excise has launched an investigation to track down those who bought the drugs from the shop. Published – September 14, 2024 08:50 pm IST