VARANASI, Dec. 28 -- Police here on Sunday arrested five more people in connection with the ongoing codeine cough syrup smuggling case, exposing a cross-border operation that used shell pharmaceutical companies to smuggle the restricted drug to Bangladesh at inflated prices, with profits laundered back through gold and hawala networks.

The arrests were made from two locations, three from Rohania and two from Sarnath, as investigators exposed how the syndicate used shell pharmaceutical companies and dummy operators to purchase syrup at Rs.100 per vial, smuggle it to Bangladesh at Rs.700 per vial, and smuggle profits back as gold through West Bengal before converting it to currency through hawala networks.

The three arrested from Rohania ...