Representative image of Mephedrone.
Credit: iStockPhoto
Mumbai: In a major intelligence-based crackdown against narcotics trade, the Mumbai Police has busted a mephedrone drug manufacturing racket by uncovering a clandestine factory hidden behind a garage in Karnataka's Mysuru and seized contraband to the tune of Rs 390 crore.
Four accused have been arrested in connection with the case.
The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Saki Naka police station of Mumbai was able to make the drug bust in a closely coordinated effort with the Mysuru City police.
“The successful seizure of Rs 390 crore worth Mephedrone from Mysuru is a significant milestone in our continued efforts to eliminate drugs from their very source,” Mumbai Police chief Deven Bharti said on Tuesday while congratulating the team that carried out the operation.
The action was taken under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The team seized 187.97 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 381.96 crore from the factory. Earlier, in the same investigation, 4 kg of the drug valued at Rs 8.04 crore had been recovered from Kaman village, Vasai.
The total seizure now stands at 192.53 kg of mephedrone, valued at an estimate of Rs 390 crore.
The raid also led to the recovery of various equipment and chemicals used in the drug production process.
The unit was a key supplier in Mumbai’s MD racket, and was exposed due to a lead from a drug peddler in Vasai in the Palghar district.
The investigation began in April, when a person attempting to sell mephedrone within the Saki Naka police station limits was arrested.
Thereafter, the Saki Naka police arrested three people who were selling drugs in the Kaman area of Vasai East.
After police pieced together the network, on July 25, one of the key conduits, Salim Imtiaz Sheikh alias Salim Langda (45), a resident of Rahul Nagar, Bandra West, revealed during interrogation that he had sourced MD from Mysuru.
Based on this input, a police team conducted a technical analysis and surveillance, eventually tracing the manufacturing unit near Mysuru.
“A team was formed which was sent to Karnataka. They raided the factory situated behind a garage in the Ring Road area of Mysuru City and seized MD drugs, raw materials, chemicals, equipment and machines,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X) Dutta Nalawade.