Thane, Jul 3: Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a drug racket spread across four states with the arrest of 15 persons and seizure of mephedrone and raw materials valued at Rs 327.69 crore over the last two months.
The mega operation was conducted in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Gujarat since May during which several premises were raided and drug manufacturing units unearthed, Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar Police Commissioner Madhukar Pandey said at a press conference.
Raw materials of Rs 300 crore were seized from a drug manufacturing unit in UP, he said.
Four firearms and several live cartridges were also seized from an accused in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, the official said.
The arrested include eight from UP, three each from Maharashtra and Telangana and one from Gujarat, as per the police.
Giving details of the operation, Pandey said that on May 15, the crime branch officials arrested two persons during checking at Chena Gaon in Maharashtra’s Thane district and seized 1 kg of MD (mephedrone) valued at Rs 2 crore from them.
A case under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered against the duo, hailing from Vasai in neighbouring Palghar district.
During interrogation, one of the accused led the police to a factory at Narsapur in Telangana, the official said.
The police raided the unit and seized 103 gms of MD valued at Rs 20.60 lakh and 25 kg of raw materials worth Rs 25 crore.
On May 17, the police arrested from there two persons who were involved in manufacturing the drug, the official said.
Following their interrogation, the police nabbed one person from Varanasi in UP, and another man from Goregaon in Mumbai from whom 71.10 gm of MD valued at Rs 14.38 lakh was seized, he said.
Further interrogation of the accused led the police to catch a person from his house at Padgha in Thane and seizure of accessories of Rs 53,710 used for the manufacture of drugs and chemicals, the official said.
During the probe, the police got a tip that a man from Mumbai, who is yet to be caught, transferred funds required for the manufacture of drugs and sale proceeds through a person from Surat in Gujarat, he said.
The police traced that person to Surat and seized Rs 10.84 lakh cash sent to him, the official said.
They learnt some amount was also sent through angadias (traditional courier service).
The police traced two angadias to Bhendi Bazar in Mumbai and seized from them Rs 6,80,200 sent to them, he said.
Subsequently, the police turned focus towards Jaunpur in UP where some of the accused were running a mephedrone manufacturing factory.
They seized from the unit 300 kg of raw material kept in drums and valued Rs 300 crore and arrested three persons on June 25, the official said.
Three other persons involved in the crime were arrested from Lucknow on June 26, he said.
The accused also informed police about another person who was nabbed from Nalla Sopara in Palghar on Monday.
The police seized three pistols, one revolver and 33 live cartridges from his possession, the official said.
A probe was on to find out if more persons were involved in the mega racket, the police said. (PTI)
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