This article is the result of a collaboration with Netherlands-based open-source media outlet Bellingcat. Read Bellingcat’s editorially independent coverage here.

Over 60 Indian pharmaceutical suppliers have exported synthetic opioid pills worth almost Rs 1,220 crore – or US $130 million – to West African nations. Most of the destination countries had not approved the drug, and have an opioid abuse problem.

These pills contained tapentadol, classified as a psychotropic substance in India and five times more potent than intravenous morphine. Indian rules cap its manufacture at doses of up to 100 mg for instant-release formulations and 200 mg for slow-release ones. Anything stronger requires a no-objection certificate from India’s apex drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). 

However, according to records from import-export data provider 52wmb, more than 1,400 consignments of tapentadol were sent to West Africa over three years, from January 2023 to December 2025. Among consignments with known dosages, the majority were above 200 mg, according to export data analysis by Bellingcat – a Netherlands-based investigative outlet focussing on open source data – and Newslaundry.

Most tapentadol pills sent between 2023 and 2025 had the coastal nations of Ghana and Sierra Leone listed as their declared destinations, according to the export cross-checked against records provided by trade data aggregator ImportGenius. 

In Ghana, tapentadol – known on the street as “Red” – is driving a surge in abuse, with users slipping into zombie-like states at high doses. Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission said trafficking has steadily increased over the past three years, with more than 37 lakh 250 mg tablets seized, most traced back to exports from India. The commission said Ghana emerged as both a destination and transit hub while Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority told Bellingcat it “never issued any permit” for tapentadol “of any strength”. Sierra Leone declared a national emergency over rampant drug abuse in 2024, with tapentadol among unapproved items.

The manufacturing and export puzzle

Of the more than 60 suppliers that exported at least 32.1 crore pills to West African countries, three Indian companies – Syncom Formulations, Puizer Pharmaceuticals and Twin Impex – were listed as the biggest suppliers by cost, their exports collectively accounting for half of all tapentadol shipments analysed during this period.

So how did these shipments get through? The rules, at least on paper, are clear.

The Indian health ministry guidance documents issued in July 2024 placed the onus squarely on exporters, requiring anyone applying for an export NOC to give an undertaking that the medicines “will comply with all the requirements of the importing country including quality standards”. In March 2025, the Union Health Minister said in Parliament that regulatory approval in the importing country was a prerequisite for export NOCs.

Against this backdrop, Newslaundry filed a flurry of RTIs to relevant authorities over several months, trying to establish who had authorised these exports. The companies themselves were also approached to find out if they had permissions.

What emerged is a picture that is hazy, ambiguous and reflective of a serious regulatory lapse.

One RTI reply for CDSCO said only two firms – Torrent Pharmaceutical and Pharose Remedies Limited – were granted approval to manufacture tapentadol for export between 2019 and 2024. Neither appears in the list of 60 exporters mentioned above.

When asked specifically in another RTI if CDSCO granted export NOCs for tapentadol to any of the three top exporters, named Syncom Formulations, Puizer Pharmaceuticals and Twin Impex, the organisation said: “As per the available record, this office has not........

© newslaundry