Maharashtra (The Stellar News): On Wednesday, a 55 year-old man with a master’s degree in organic chemistry was among five people arrested after the Mumbai police seized 705kg of mephedrone worth over Rs 1,400 crore in one of the biggest drug busts in recent years.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalwade of the anti-narcotics cell said they raided a commercial tenement in Nalasopara based on information received from some persons arrested in March this year for possession of small quantities of mephedrone. The synthetic stimulant is banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
The 55 year-old chemist manufactured and supplied the synthetic drug, which goes by the street name ‘meow meow’, as per orders received from drug suppliers
“After arresting three members of the syndicate – Samsullah Obaidullah Khan, 38, a peddler, Ayub Izhar Abmed Shaihk, 37, a supplier and Reshma Chandan, 49, a distributor, we finally managed to reach the contraband manufacturer, who used to distribute the contraband from the commercial tenement that he had purchased at Nalasopara,” Nalawade said.
The 55 year-old accused, who lives in Nalasopara with his wife and two children, used to manufacture the synthetic drug at Nashik and had brought the entire consignment in tempo to Nalasopara. The police officer said he used to first collect money from the distributors and then used to deliver the consignments to them at some pre-decided locations in and around the city a few hours later, with a minimum order of 25kgs.
Report: Deepanjot Kaur (Under Training)
