QUETTA: In a significant crackdown on the counterfeit drug trade, a joint team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the provincial Drug Task Force raided and dismantled a clandestine fake medicine packaging factory operating from a residential house in Quetta’s Nawan Kuli area, arresting six individuals, including the factory owner.
The operation, led by Drug Inspector Ali Ahmed Achakzai and FIA officers, targeted a house in the Mughalabad Shakir Colony. During the raid, authorities uncovered a sophisticated illegal operation, seizing a massive quantity of substandard and unregistered medicines valued at millions of rupees. The haul also included capsule strips, raw materials used for manufacturing, and various packaging equipment, revealing the scale of the illicit business.
The arrested suspects have been identified as factory owner Muhammad Tahir, Nazir, Abdullah, Muhammad Yousuf, Muhammad Javed, and Aziz-ur-Rehman. All six are now in custody as the investigation deepens. Samples of the confiscated medicines have been sent to a drug testing laboratory for formal analysis. Officials confirmed that upon receipt of the lab report, a formal case will be registered against the accused in the designated drug court.
In a development that points to a wider public health crisis, initial investigations have yielded alarming revelations. The accused allegedly confessed to supplying their counterfeit products to major medical stores across Quetta. This admission has prompted authorities to plan an immediate and expansive crackdown on the pharmacies implicated in the supply chain. The raid highlights a dangerous loophole in the pharmaceutical supply system and has raised serious concerns about the proliferation of fake and potentially life-threatening medicines in the market.
Meanwhile the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Quetta has made significant arrests in a case involving a sophisticated scheme to provide national identity cards to foreigners. In a crackdown that highlights the vulnerability of the country’s citizen registration system, three officials from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) were taken into custody.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Syed Anwar Shah, the Regional Head Officer (RHO) for Quetta; Junior Executive Syed Akhtar Shah; and Khawaja Waqas, who was posted in the Chaman Zone. Their arrests are connected to FIR No. 3/24, a case stemming from the Riyadh Embassy passport scandal.
