Breaking Bad's Heisenberg in Mumbai? Cops arrest Chemistry post-graduate in Rs 1,400-crore drug haul
Mumbai, Aug 4: Mumbai police seized more than 700 kilograms of mephedrone worth Rs 1,400 crore, the largest recovery of the synthetic stimulant drug in Maharashtra in the last one year, after a raid at a drug manufacturing unit at Nalasopara in Palghar district, and arrested five persons, officials said on Thursday.
The Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai crime branch conducted the raid at the unit located in Nalasopara (west) on Wednesday and recovered the contraband, also known as MD, that was meant to be supplied to drug peddlers in Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, an official said.
The main accused in the case is a post-graduate in organic chemistry, who got the formula of producing mephedrone through experiments, he said, adding that one of the other four arrested accused is a woman.
"The raid was carried out based on specific inputs, which the ANC's Worli team had received after the arrest of a drug peddler from Govandi, a suburb in Mumbai, in March this year. Mephedrone weighing 250 grams had been recovered from him at that time," he said.
During his interrogation, the ANC officials learnt that some more persons were involved in the illegal activity, following which they arrested the woman and one more person, and seized 2.760 kg of mephedrone, Continuing its probe into the supply chain, Mumbai police on Tuesday arrested one more accused and nabbed the main accused a day later following the raid at his Nalasopara unit.
"The ANC team recovered 701.740 kg mephedrone valued at Rs 1,403 crore from the accused," said Datta Nalawade, Deputy Commissioner of Police (ANC), in a press conference.
This was the largest seizure of mephedrone in Maharashtra in the last one year, he said.
During the probe, it came to light that the main accused himself was manufacturing the banned drug, he said.
"The main accused is a 52-year-old man, who holds a post-graduate degree in organic chemistry. After experimenting with various chemicals, he found out the formula of producing mephedrone," he said, adding that he was producing "high quality" substance.
Police are investigating the whole supply chain and the financial trails of the drug traffickers, he said.
"Wholesalers in the drug trade used to contact him for mephedrone and he was not selling the banned substance less than 25 kg in quantity," he said.
The accused person was using social media platforms, calling apps for drug peddling and supply, he said.
Of the total five accused, four were arrested in Mumbai, while one person was held in Nalasopara, the official said, adding that various angles were being probed in the case.
This is one of the biggest drug hauls by the city police in recent times, he said.
Mephedrone, also known as 'meow meow' or MD, is a synthetic stimulant banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
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Karnataka to witness heavy rain for next 10 days
Bengaluru: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that the southwest monsoon will cause heavy rainfall likely this weekend and will drench Karnataka over the next 10 days.
The monsoon has begun retreating from northwestern India. Conditions remain active over the south, with an upper air trough extending up to 1.5 km over North Interior Karnataka and northern Tamil Nadu, combined with weakening monsoon winds across the peninsula, is driving the current spell. N. Puviarasan, head of the IMD’s meteorological centre in Bengaluru, said in a conversation with Deccan Herald, “As a result, the whole of Karnataka will see rain over the next week to 10 days."
With a cyclone in the Pacific Ocean along with a low-pressure system over the north Bay of Bengal, the monsoon is expected to intensify during the next four days. IMD has predicted heavy rains across South Interior Karnataka, including Bengaluru, throughout the weekend.
Bengaluru, recorded widespread moderate to heavy rainfall on Thursday. Between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm, Bengaluru city logged 45.9 mm of rain accompanied by thunderstorms. HAL airport registered 6 mm and the Bengaluru Urban automatic station recorded 47.5 mm. Doddathoguru, near Electronics City, reported 55 mm.
According to IMD forecast heavy rainfall will occur at isolated places in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Yadgir, Koppal, Raichur, Ramanagara and Mandya districts in the next few days.
The southwest monsoon is now expected to extend until mid-October and with little or no break in between, the northeast monsoon is likely to follow immediately. These are expected to last until December. “There may be no break in between,” Puviarasan said.
