An alleged synthetic narcotics producer, Kubbawala Mustafa, wanted on an Interpol Red Notice, was deported to India from the UAE in an operation coordinated by the CBI and Mumbai police.
The Mumbai police seized more than 700 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 1,400 crore following a raid at a drug manufacturing unit at Nalasopara in Palghar district, and arrested five persons, officials said on Thursday.
The raids were conducted by the Gujarat Anti Terrorist Squad and Narcotics Control Bureau jointly on Friday after the ATS received a tip-off that Ahmedabad resident Manoharlal Enani and Kuldeepsinh Rajpurohit of Rajasthan had set up mephedrone manufacturing units, the official said on Saturday.
Based on information received from those arrested, a raid was conducted at Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur on Tuesday, a police officer said.
The drug network was busted based on an intelligence input received by the Crime Branch, he said, adding that three persons were arrested and a case has been registered by the DRI.
A total of 149 kgs of mephedrone or 'meow meow' drug (both in powder and liquid form), 50 kg ephedrine, and 200 litres of acetone was recovered from the three labs located in Bhinmal of Jalore district and Osian in Jodhpur district of Rajasthan and Gandhinagar in Gujarat, the officer said.
He was on Wednesday produced before a magistrate in suburban Andheri which remanded him in police custody till October 23 in the same mephedrone seizure case.
Search of two premises of a firm called Apex Medichem Private Limited on Saturday led to the seizures, he said.
The police have so far seized approximately 1,700 kg of mephedrone from Pune and a couple of locations in Delhi.
Liquid and powder raw materials worth Rs 2.73 lakh, chemicals worth Rs 2.59 lakh, besides vehicles, two country-made pistols, four magazines, and 14 cartridges were seized from seven accused, he said.
During the raid, the ATS recovered 63.6 kg of mephedrone and 80.26 kg of its raw material worth Rs 478.65 crore, the release said.
The NCB has so far arrested 16 people, including Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan, 23, in the drug seizure case.
The NCB, which got the remand of Aryan Khan and the other eight accused from the court till Thursday, also claimed that in the WhatsApp chats he is discussing modes of payment to be done for procurement (of drugs) and that several code names are being used.
The court, in its order, noted that the investigation in the case was of prime importance and considering this aspect, the further presence of the accused before the NCB was necessary.
'We are also seeing the birth of new evil, the new face of drug distribution where human interface has reduced; consumers are using the Dark Web to source supplies and using cryptocurrencies as payment mode.'
