Mumbai police bust drugs factory in Gujarat, seize Mephedrone worth Rs 1,026 cr

Mumbai, Aug 16

Notching another big success in 10 days, the Mumbai Police have busted a drugs factory at Ankleshwar in south Gujarat and seized drugs worth Rs 1,026 crore and nabbed one person, as part of an investigation into an ongoing case, officials said here on Tuesday.

Till now, the total seizures in the case -- the probe was launched on March 29 with multiple raids in Govandi suburb of Mumbai, Ambernath in Thane and Nalasopara in Palghar, besides Ankleshwar in Gujarat -- has touched a staggering Rs 2,435 crore.

In the latest action on August 13, the Anti Narcotics Cell, Worli Unit, seized 513 kg Mephedrone, plus 812 812 kg of white powder and 397 kg of chemicals used to prepare the narcotic drugs, said an official.

The factory raided is situated in the GIDC complex at Panoli in Ankleshwar, and the latest action happened barely 10 days after the previous major drugs haul worth Rs 1,403 crore from Nalasopara town in Palghar district, bordering Gujarat.

So far, seven persons have been arrested in this case, including a woman and a couple of qualified chemists, who allegedly prepared the mixtures of various chemicals to manufacture the final drugs.

Earlier on August 4, the ANC arrested three persons, including two suppliers, from Nalasopara and seized 702 kg of Mephedrone worth Rs 1403.50 crore.

Prior to that on March 29, the ANC had arrested three drug peddlers, including a woman, from Govandi in north-east Mumbai, and raided a premise in Ambernath town, to recover over 3 kg Mephedrone worth more than Rs 4.50 crore.

The sustained interrogation of these six accused led the ANC to make further detentions and the big action ahead of Independence Day in Ankleshwar where the rich haul was seized on Saturday.

The ANC said the drug peddlers, including the woman, are currently in police or judicial custody and further probe is underway.

The teams which cracked one of the biggest narcotics supply rackets comprised Inspector Sandeep Kale, ACP Savlaram Agavale, DCP Datta Nalawade, Additional Police Commissioner Viresh Prabhu, Joint Police Commissioner Suhas Warke and Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar, along with the field teams of ANC Worli unit.

The ANC said the woman accused along with the other peddlers kept their identity secret, sought clients on social media and supplied the drugs to them in different parts of Mumbai and its surrounding areas.

Further probe is focused on tracing the source of the drugs, other hidden players and their links with the narcotics mafia.