Busting a major drug manufacturing and marketing racket for the international market, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 238 kg of Mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow party drug, worth Rs 10 crore and arrested four persons.

On specific intelligence developed by DRI, Mumbai zonal unit, first arrested Bhanudas More aka Bhavesh Patel, a known drug trafficker engaged in the manufacture and trafficking of Mephedrone, a psychotropic substance under NDPS Act, 1985. Soon after his accomplices Rouf Lulania, Wazhul Qamer Abul Wafa Choudhary aka Pappu Choudhary and his employee Manish Rawal were also arrested.

The syndicate had hired the factory premises of Rainbow Paints at Palghar, about 90 km from Mumbai, to set up a plant for clandestinely manufacturing Mephedrone. Bhanudas had stored Mephedrone in slurry form at a rented flat at Virar, adjoining Mumbai, for further converting it into crystals by drying process.

The probe revealed that Pappu Choudhary was the main buyer as well as financer of Bhanudas in this syndicate. Manish Sesaria, a resident of Ahmedabad, was a trusted associate of Bhanudas for supervising the manufacturing process of Mephedrone at the factory.

Last week, DRI officials conducted searches at four locations (including three residences) of the accused. During the search from Palghar factory it was observed that the syndicate has recently installed Glass Line Reactor (GLR) for manufacturing of Mephedrone.

Further searches resulted in recovery and seizure of total quantity of 238.20 kg of slurry purported to be Mephedrone. The international price of the crystals is about Rs 10 crore.

The fourth accused Rouf Lulania had helped Bhanudas for procuring equipment for setting up the plant and also by convincing Raghuvir Patil, owner of Rainbow Paints, to allow them to utilise the storage tank and to erect glass line reactor (GLR), which is the main plant for manufacture of the slurry of Mephedrone.

Continuous searches conducted at the residential premises of Bhanudas resulted in seizure of 8.126 kg of black coloured Hashish, 32 plastic trays used for drying Mephedrone, four empty gallons which bears markings of HCL and Acetone, a chemical flask, brownish coloured crystalline powder purported to be Mephedrone weighing 20 gm and one plastic tray which contained brown coloured liquid and undissolved brown coloured crystals.

"Incriminating documents and personal diaries were also recovered from the said premises," the source said.

Interestingly, enquiries further revealed that Bhanudas was earlier convicted in a case booked by NCB in 2001 and was under imprisonment till 2007. Also he is a declared absconder in a case relating to the illegal manufacturing of narcotics booked by ATS Mumbai in July 2015, for his act of supply of Acetone and distilled mineral water to 'Sajid Electric Wala' in Mumbai.

Statement of Bhanudas, recorded under section 67 of NDPS Act, admitted that in the first week of March 2017, he had sold 18 kg of Mephedrone in crystalline powder form to two Africans and around 238 kg of mephedrone remained in slurry form, which was seized by the DRI.

Another accused Pappu Choudhary in his statement admitted that the final product of Mephedrone was planned to be sold in Nepal. Pappu has been quite active in smuggling activities at UP-Nepal border and was in touch with various drug dealers at Nepal.

"The drug which is under seizure was to be delivered to him for selling the same at Nepal for Rs 1.25 lakh per kg. Pappu had promised Bhanudas to pay Rs 1 lakh per kg of Mephedrone," a source with the agency said.

All the four accused has been remanded to judicial custody till April 3, 2017.

Also read:

Epidemic of drug addiction now grips Punjab's women too

India-made sex drugs worth $1.6 million seized in South Africa