Karnataka busts fake drug racket, suspends license of Pfizer depot, 7 other firms

The Karnataka Food Safety and Drugs Administration (FDA) has cancelled 16 drug licenses and suspended eight others following an investigation into a spurious drug racket uncovered at a farmhouse in Bidadi, Bengaluru South district.The action follows a raid conducted by the FDA’s Drug Enforcement Wing on August 18, 2026, at a farmhouse in Kurubarakeranahalli, Bidadi.The operation uncovered an unlicensed pharmaceutical repacking and relabelling unit, with spurious drugs, machinery and printing materials worth around Rs 5.05 crore seized from the premises.According to the Karnataka government, preliminary findings showed that low-cost medicines sourced from neighbouring states were being repacked into new vials and relabelled as expensive imported medicines.