In a second major drug haul in less than a fortnight, the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) personnel of the Mumbai Police's crime branch have busted a synthetic drug factory at Ankleshwar in adjoining south Gujarat and seized 513 kg of Mephedrone worth Rs.1,026 crore and arrested one person, as part of investigations into an ongoing case,
In the development that came 12 days after they seized more than 700 kg of Mephedrone worth Rs 1,400 crore from a drug manufacturing unit at Nalasopara in Palghar district, the officials from Worli ANC unit raided a synthetic drug factory in Ankleshwar town of Gujarat and seized 513 kg of Mephedrone worth Rs.1,026 crore.
The police also seized 812 kg of white powder and 397 kgs of chemicals used to prepare the narcotic drugs from the raided factory at Ankleshwar.
The factory that the Mumbai police raided is situated in the GIDC complex at Panoli in Ankleshwar town.
The police identified as the arrested person as the owner of the drug unit, Giriraj Dixit, who holds a master's degree in Chemistry,
With the latest arrest, the total number of arrests made in the ongoing investigations into what is said to be part of an international drug trafficking racket.
Of the arrested persons, there are six men and one woman. Among them, there are a couple of qualified chemists allegedly carrying out the mixtures of various chemicals to manufacture the final drugs.
Of the seven arrested persons, five are currently in judicial custody, while the remaining are in police custody.
Acting on a tip-off received from their counterparts at Worli in March this year following the arrest of a drug peddler from Govandi in north-east Mumbai, the ANC officials had on August 3, 2022 raided a drug manufacturing unit located at Nalasopara and recovered Mephedrone worth Rs 1,400 crore. The seized contraband was meant for distribution among drug peddlers in Mumbai and its neighbouring areas.
Mephedrone (MD), also known as M-cat, Meow Meow or White Magic, is a synthetic stimulant drug of Amphetamine class psychoactive characteristics and usually used at rave parties. This party drug is a psychotropic substance banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The latest drug haul at Ankleshwar and also the one made on August 3 are the the biggest drug hauls made by the city police in recent times. The massive drug seizures are a consequence of earlier raids during which 3.26 kg of Mephedrone worth Rs 4.51 crorefrom three persons arrested in two separate operations carried on March 29 this year.
Incidentally, the main accused arrested from Nalasopara on August 3 is a post-graduate in organic chemistry and used his knowledge to manufacture synthetic drugs. The modus operandi used by the main accused was to manufacture the drug in the Nalasopara unit and sell it in the open market through his agents and drug peddlers.
The main accused used to sell the drug in bulk quantities weighing more than a minimum of 20 to 25 kg of banned substance. “The accused used social media platforms, calling apps for drug peddling and supply,” s senior official said.