The district administration on Saturday raided a pharmaceutical factory in Cumilla's BSCIC Industrial Estate after learning that it was manufacturing and marketing at least 22 different medicines, despite having licences for only five of those.

During the drive, authorities seized unapproved medicines, raw materials and manufacturing equipment from the factory, named Modern Drug.

The operation, which continued from the evening until around 8:30 pm, was conducted by Executive Magistrate Faiyaz Khan of the Deputy Commissioner's Office based on information provided by the Cumilla unit of the National Security Intelligence (NSI).

Officials concerned said the company's director, Zubair Islam, had long been producing various medicines and selling them through dealers across the country despite having approval for only a limited number of products.

Executive Magistrate Faiyaz Khan said allegations of manufacturing medicines without proper authorisation had been substantiated during the raid.

He also said the factory had been producing medicines without any approved technician on site.

Legal action will be taken over the seized materials and preparations are underway to file a regular case, he added.

Shah Alam Sarkar, office assistant of the Department of Drug Administration in Cumilla, said the factory authorities failed to produce approval documents for the 22 types of medicines seized during the operation.

He said several foreign-brand medicines were also being manufactured at the facility and warned that some of the medicines produced for children posed serious risks to public health.

Factory owner Zubair Islam partially admitted the allegations, saying the company had approval for producing several medicines but had not obtained authorisation for some other products.

Executive Magistrate Sultan Hasan Mahmud, officials of the NSI and members of the district police were also present during the drive.