The seized mephedrone cost Rs 1,026 crore in the international market, police said.
In a massive drug haul, Mumbai Police has seized mephedrone worth Rs 1,026 crore during a raid in Gujarat. The anti-narcotics cell of the Mumbai Police had raided a Mephedrone manufacturing unit in Gujarat's Ankleshwar on Saturday and seized 513 kgs of the banned substance. The seized drugs cost Rs 1,026 crore in the international market, police said.
The owner of the mephedrone manufacturing unit, Giriraj Dixit, a post-graduate in Chemistry, was also arrested, news agency PTI reported. Police said he and another co-accused had perfected the formula for producing mephedrone by conducting experiments.
The drug seizure was one of the biggest by the city police in recent times, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (ANC) Datta Nalawade.
The raid was linked to the seizure of 700 kgs of the drug (worth Rs 1,400 crore) from Nalasopara near Mumbai earlier this month. The police have already seized 1,218 kgs of the drug worth Rs 2,435 crore and arrested seven people in the case. The investigation in the case had begun with the recovery of just 250 gms of the drug in March.
Those arrested so far in the case include Shamshullah Obhedullah Khan (38), Ayub Izhar Ahmed Sheikh (33), Reshma Sanjaykumar Chandan (49), Riyaz Abdul Sattar Menon (43), Prem Prakash Parasnath Singh (52) and Kiran Pawar, police said.
Mephedrone, also known as MD, is a synthetic psychotropic stimulant which is banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
With inputs from PTI