DRI busts mephedrone factory in Satara, seizes drugs worth Rs 55 crore
Mumbai (PTI): The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has dismantled a mobile mephedrone manufacturing unit in Maharashtra’s Satara district, seized drugs worth Rs 55 crore and arrested five persons, officials said.
Acting on inputs, DRI officials conducted ‘Operation Sahyadri Checkmate’ on Friday in a remote village in the Karad tehsil, an official said on Sunday.
Teams from the country’s premier anti-smuggling agency carried out a raid and unearthed a fully operational laboratory, equipped for mephedrone production, camouflaged as a poultry farm. The unit was frequently shifting locations to evade detection, officials said.
The seizure included 11.848 kg of the drug in liquid form, 9.326 kg in semi-liquid form and 738 grams in crystalline form, along with 71.5 kg of raw material capable of yielding another 15 kg of mepehdrone, collectively worth about Rs 55 crore, the official said.
Mephedrone is a synthetic stimulant and is commonly described as a party drug. It carries serious health risks.
Three persons, including the manufacturer or “cook”, the “financer-consigner”, and the poultry farm owner, were apprehended at the spot, an official said, adding that the first batch of the contraband had been hidden at the farm owner’s residence.
In a follow-up operation, DRI officials nabbed two more persons, en route to collect the final product, near an old octroi toll naka in a densely forested area, he said.
Of the five accused, four had prior arrests under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act or prosecution under MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), the official said.
This is the second raid on a drug manufacturing unit in Satara district in the last two months. Last month, the Mumbai Crime Branch conducted a raid at Jawali and busted a clandestine drug manufacturing unit.
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Kerala girl goes missing at Manikyadhara falls, search underway
Chikkamagaluru (Karnataka) (PTI): A search operation was launched after a class 10 student from Kerala went missing during a family trip to Manikyadhara Falls in the Chandradrona hill range, police said on Wednesday.
The girl was part of a group of around 40 relatives who had travelled from Palakkad, officials added.
According to police, she went missing at around 5.30 pm on Tuesday while at the falls with her family. The family searched for her until about 8 pm before informing the authorities.
After receiving the report, police and forest department personnel launched a search operation in the area, a senior officer said. The search continued through the night, he added.
Thermal drones were deployed to locate the girl until around 4.30 am.
Disaster management teams joined the operation on Wednesday morning, and the search is ongoing, the officer said.
He noted that the area is usually crowded and expressed hope that the girl would be found soon.
The officer also cited a recent incident in Kodagu district, where a 36-year-old woman from Kerala went missing while trekking in the Tadiandamol hills and was later traced and reunited with her family.
