Hyderabad: Four people were arrested and 27kg of mephedrone, worth around ₹54 crore, was seized by Bibinagar police and the Special Operation Team (SOT), Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri in a surprise operation on Aug 8.Police said the drug was manufactured at a laboratory in Kondamadugu village and was being transported to Nagpur for distribution.The accused have been identified as Chetan Madhukar Meshram, 49, a coal businessman from Nagpur; Muvjamal Hoque, 25, from Assam; Akash Ashok Gawande, 31, a car driver from Nagpur; and Upadrasthra Ramana Murthy, 65, an employee and in charge of Vetukuri Labs. Police have booked all the accused under Sections 8(c), 22(c), 27A and 29 of the NDPS Act, relating to illegal possession, manufacture, trafficking, financing and conspiracy involving psychotropic substances.
According to cops, Meshram allegedly financed and organised the operation, while Hoque assisted in manufacturing the drug, Gawande helped transport the contraband, and Murthy oversaw the laboratory’s day-to-day operations.Acting on a tip-off, police intercepted a car near Kondamadugu when the accused were travelling from Kondamadugu to Nagpur and recovered the stash of mephedrone along with 40kg of acetone, which is used to manufacture the drug.During questioning, the accused allegedly told police that the drug had been manufactured at Vetukuri Labs between Aug 5 and 7 with the help of other people who are still at large.“Mephedrone, sold on the street as ‘meow meow’ or M-Cat, is among the most dangerous synthetic drugs in circulation. Even small quantities can cause seizures, respiratory failure and death,” said an official of Bibinagar police, adding that it is sold for around ₹20,000 per gram in the grey market. “Quantities above 50 grams are classified as commercial quantities under the NDPS Act,” the official added.Police later searched the laboratory and seized a reactor and centrifuge allegedly used in the manufacturing process, besides six mobile phones and the vehicle used to transport the drug. The company that runs the laboratory will also be seized after completion of the legal proceedings, police added. Four others named in the case — Md Ayub Ali, who allegedly organised the laboratory, arranged raw materials and brought in a chemist; Chanda Pradeep Thakur and Gopal Sirpat Patelia, both alleged peddlers; and lab owner Yeatucuri Ramaraju — are absconding. “Efforts are underway to trace and arrest them,” police said.The accused were produced before a court, while investigators are continuing efforts to trace the remaining suspects and establish the wider network behind the alleged drug-manufacturing operation.
