An illegal drug manufacturing unit busted in Mysore.
Credit: Special arrangement
Ahmedabad: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday claimed to have busted a "major interstate drug trafficking" racket and seized 35 kg of Mephedrone or MD drug worth about Rs 10 crore in Surat.
The agency said that it has also found an illegal drug manufacturing lab in Mysuru and seized chemicals weighing over 500 kg.
The agency said that based on intelligence inputs, it intercepted a vehicle with a Karnataka registration number at Palsana in Surat on Wednesday. During the search, 35 kg of Mephedrone was recovered from the vehicle.
The NCB arrested three people including the alleged mastermind Mahindra Kumar Vishnoi. The NCB sleuths have also recovered 1.8 kg of opium, Rs 25.6 lakh cash and various chemicals from Vishnoi's house in Surat.
"Investigation has also revealed that Mahindra Kumar Vishnoi is a habitual offender, against whom three cases are registered in Rajasthan and one case in Gujarat," NCB said in a press release.
It said that when Vishnoi was in jail in previous cases. He "conceived the idea of manufacturing synthetic drugs after talking to inmates in jail and familiarised himself with the processes, market and supply chains. He started manufacturing after coming out of jail".
NCB alleged that Vishnoi established a lab sometime in 2024 in Hebbal Industrial Area, Mysuru.
"A search in the premises by NCB revealed a full-fledged clandestine lab with sophisticated instruments for the manufacture of drugs. This unit, which was being operated under the guise of manufacturing chemicals for cleaning purposes, was taken on rent by a co-accused and relative of the mastermind, Mahindra Kumar Vishnoi, who has also been arrested," the agency said.