ED summons codeine smuggling kingpin Shubham Jaiswal; warns of NBW, Interpol notice
LUCKNOW: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Lucknow Zone unit has issued a final summons to Shubham Jaiswal, identified as the kingpin of a codeine cough syrup smuggling racket, warning him that failure to appear on Monday will prompt the agency to seek a non-bailable warrant (NBW) and initiate proceedings for a Red Corner Notice against him through Interpol. Notably, Jaiswal has already been served two summons by the ED but has so far failed to appear to record his statements in connection with the smuggling racket. The ED issued the warning a day after the Allahabad High Court granted interim protection on Friday to Jaiswal and his father Bhola Prasad Jaiswal from arrest until December 17. The father-son duo is accused of running a massive cross-border narcotics racket in Uttar Pradesh. However, the HC relief could not be extended to Bhola Prasad Jaiswal, who remains lodged in Sonbhadra jail in connection with other criminal cases. He was recently arrested at Ranchi airport while allegedly trying to flee the country. Shubham Jaiswal, along with his accomplices, has already fled the country and is believed to be in Dubai. ED sources said Shubham Jaiswal was named in a UP police FIR and is one of the accused in a PMLA case lodged by the agency based on 24 FIRs filed over the past year by UP Police, STF, and FSDA. These cases relate to large-scale seizures of illegal, adulterated, or mislabelled codeine syrups, the arrest of carriers, forged stock records, and suspicious financial activities by pharmaceutical and transport firms. The FIRs cover districts including Lucknow, Chandauli, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Sonbhadra, Sultanpur, Kanpur Nagar, Jaunpur, Bahraich, Bhadohi, and Ghazipur, pointing to a widespread and structured criminal network. According to sources, Shubham Jaiswal allegedly created fake GST invoices, manipulated stock registers, employed unregistered transporters handling pharma cargo, routed interstate cash movements through informal channels, engaged in unlicensed bottling, and ran suspected illegal manufacturing units. These findings are an offence under PMLA and is an organised financial crime, said a senior official. The ED has also written to UP Police seeking complete case files and bank details of all 67 accused, and has begun examining bank accounts, GST filings, ITRs, property registries, and digital ledgers. The agency is mapping transporters, warehouses, distributors, and interstate logistics, and is scrutinising suspected shell firms used to route profits. Sources said preliminary probes have revealed diversion of pharmaceutical stock, illegal manufacturing, smuggling routes, and laundering of profits, with the investigation still underway.
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