In a major drug bust, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on October unearthed a synthetic drug manufacturing unit located in Madhya Pradesh's Bagroda area, seizing over 900 kgs of mephedrone (MD) worth over Rs 1,800 crore.
In connection with this, the Madhya Pradesh police on Tuesday seized chemicals and raw materials from a shop in Bhopal and detained the facility's owner. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Sanjay Agrawal said that the seized material can potentially produce mephedrone drug with an estimated value of Rs 250 to 350 crore.
Gujarat ATS and NCB had seized 907.09 kilograms of MD from the Bagroda factory with an estimated value of Rs 1,814 crore.
"Following the action of NCB (Delhi unit) against the synthetic drug factory in Bhopal, the MP police received information about the presence of suspicious objects at the same place on Monday night and sealed the spot on Monday night," the DCP was cited as saying by news agency PTI.
DCP Agrawal noted that as per the information the police team received, one Amit Chaturvedi -- arrested in the NCB case -- had rented the shop in the Ganesh Market area opposite a warehouse. Chaturvedi used to shift goods by car to the Bagroda factory during late hours.
"On Tuesday morning, police broke open the shop and found various chemicals stored in drums and sacks," Agrawal said, adding that Chaturvedi rented that shop from one Vishnu Patidar last July.
He further noted that the raw material seized from the shop is worth around Rs 60 lakh as per local market prices and can produce the synthetic drug with an estimated value of Rs 250 crore to Rs 350 crore.
The DCP said that these chemicals were also recovered by the NCB, adding that a 30-litre unidentified substance was also found in the shop on Tuesday.
Cops have booked Patidar -- a resident of Bhopal's Rapadia area -- under Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) Section 223 (failing to comply with a lawful order issued by a public servant) for not informing police about renting or leasing out land and detained for questioning.
Earlier, the Gujarat ATS had said in a statement that the factory busted in Bagroda was capable of manufacturing 25 kg of mephedrone drug per day. The illegal factory unit was situated about 15 km from the Katara police station and 30 km from the MP police headquarters.
One Sanyal Baner, Harish Anjana and Amit Chaturvedi were arrested in connection with the drug bust.
Later, Bhopal Police Commissioner Harinarayanchari Mishra noted that the Bagroda factory land was initially allotted for a soap manufacturing unit, but was eventually given to a third party for rent.
Police had said that what caught investigators' eye was the factory's ventilation system which was connected to the ground level, NDTV reported. They noticed it because it was an unusual method, officials said, adding that generally the ventilation is connected with the roof.
Delhi Drug Bust
The Madhya Pradesh incident comes just days after the Delhi Police seized over 560 kg of cocaine worth around Rs 2,000 crore in what was one of the largest drug busts in the national capital.
The drugs were confiscated during a raid in south Delhi's Mehrauli area, leading to the arrest of four individuals.
It was reportedly suspected that the drug syndicate was being run by Afghan nationals. This was in the backdrop of the arrest of two Afghani men -- Hashimi Mohammad Waris and Abdul Nayib -- who were caught in Tilak Nagar with 400 grams of heroin and 160 grams of cocaine.
Later on October 5, the Delhi Police issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against a suspected Indian-origin Dubai-based businessman, believed to have been running the drug cartel with the help of Tushar Goyal and Jitender Gill alias Jassi -- both of whom were earlier arrested by the cops.
The suspect -- identified as Virender Basoya -- a resident of Sarojini Nagar who was believed to be living in Dubai, had his name come up in a drugs case last year as well. Basoya's name surfaced when Pune Police seized Rs 3,000 crore worth of 'Meow Meow' drugs last year.
Police registered a case in this drug bust case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and investigations have since been launched into the broader network behind this record-setting drug bust.
