Mephedrone worth Rs 300 crore seized in Mumbai, 12 arrested
Mumbai(PTI): Mumbai Police has seized mephedrone worth Rs 300 crore and arrested 12 persons from different cities in an operation that lasted two months, an official said on Friday.
A drug manufacturing unit located at Shindegaon MIDC industrial area in Nashik district was raided on Thursday, said Joint Commissioner of Police Satyanarayan Choudhary here. A total of 151.3 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 300.26 crore was seized during the entire operation, he added.
The probe began when the suburban Sakinaka police in Mumbai apprehended Anwar Sayyad (42), an alleged drug peddler, with 10 grams of mephedrone, a banned drug, on August 8.
The information provided by him led to the arrest of three persons on the same day for alleged drug peddling in Dharavi area of central Mumbai, and 90 grams of mephedrone was seized from them.
One of the accused told police that the drug was sourced from Arif Nasir Shaikh (42), a resident of Dharavi.
A Mumbai police team nabbed him in Hyderabad, and seized 110 grams of mephedrone, a country-made pistol, seven live rounds and Rs 4 lakh in cash from his possession, JCP Choudhary said.
Arif allegedly told police that he procured the drug from Nasir Umar Shaikh (58), a resident of J J Marg area in South Mumbai. On August 20, a police team arrested Nasir with 1.2 kg of mephedrone.
Subsequently, Rehan Ansari and Asmat Ansari were arrested from Shil Phata in Thane district with 15 kg of drugs.
A police team under supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade then got information about one Zishan Shaikh, who allegedly sourced mephedrone from a manufacturing unit in Nashik district.
Zishan Shaikh was arrested and the mephedrone manufacturing unit situated in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation's (MIDC) Shindegaon industrial estate was raided, where 133 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 267 crore was seized, the police official said.
During the probe, three more persons had been arrested.
A team of the Anti Narcotics Cell of Mumbai crime branch led by DCP Nalawade had busted a racket and seized mephedrone worth Rs 2,500 crore in 2022, he said.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
