DRI busts clandestine mephedrone manufacturing facility in Gujarat

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), under the Ministry of Finance, dismantled a clandestine Mephedrone manufacturing facility operating from residential premises in Ankleshwar, Gujarat, and arrested three persons allegedly involved in an illicit drug manufacturing and trafficking network.

Simultaneous searches conducted at the residential premises of the accused led to the recovery of Rs 21 lakh, believed to be proceeds of illicit drug trafficking, the finance ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

In an intelligence-led operation, officers of DRI unearthed a fully functional illicit laboratory equipped with sophisticated manufacturing apparatus, including an industrial oven dryer, hot plate heaters, condenser assembly, electric stirrer, and other laboratory equipment used for the clandestine manufacture of Mephedrone, it said.

Mephedrone, commonly known on the streets as ‘Meow Meow’, ‘MD’, ‘M-Cat’ or ‘Drone’, is a highly addictive synthetic psychotropic substance that has emerged as one of the most abused stimulant drugs in India, it added.