MUMBAI: A mephedrone (MD) manufacturing racket operating out of Gujarat has been busted. The police have seized narcotics, precursor chemicals and equipment collectively valued at ₹74 crore, officials said on Monday.
The operation stemmed from the arrest of Muskan Sameer Khan, 26, an aggregator cab driver from Kailash Park on Andheri-Kurla Road, who was allegedly caught attempting to sell 1kg of MD in Sakinaka on May 21. Following her arrest, police registered a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and began tracing the source of the contraband.
During interrogation, Khan allegedly told investigators that she had procured the drug from Wadal Kamar Abul Wafa Chaudhary, 56, a businessman from Kausa near Mumbra. Acting on the lead, the Anti-Narcotics Squad of the Sakinaka police arrested Chaudhary from Shilphata on May 26.
Police said Chaudhary subsequently disclosed that he had been manufacturing MD at a rented house in Varkhad village of Gujarat’s Narmada district. Based on the information, a police team raided the premises and uncovered a clandestine drug manufacturing unit.
During the raid, officers seized 20kg of liquid mephedrone with an estimated illicit market value of ₹74 crore. They also recovered large quantities of precursor chemicals used in the manufacture of MD, including 26kg of bromo-4-methylaniline, 50 litres of 4-methylpropiophenone, 20 litres of monomethylamine, 13.5 litres of bromine and 35 litres of chloroform.
They also seized equipment allegedly used in the manufacturing process, including three stirrer machines and two commercial freezers. The total value of the seized contraband, chemicals and equipment was estimated at ₹74 crore.
