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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Cristiano Ronaldo scores his 100th Saudi Pro League goal
Riyadh (AP): Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 100th Saudi Pro League goal as Al-Nassr beat Al-Shabab 4-2 to move five points clear at the top of the table.
The 41-year-old forward converted a Sadio Mané cross at the near post with 15 minutes remaining to record the 971st goal of his career on Thursday. It was also his 26th league goal of the season.
“Ronaldo is always dangerous going forward and we saw that again today,” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus said.
João Félix, signed from Chelsea in July, scored three goals for the league leaders.
The win took Al-Nassr to 82 points from 32 games, five ahead of Al-Hilal, which has three matches, one more than Nassr, left to play. Al-Hilal meets Al-Kholood on Friday and faces Nassr on Tuesday in what could be a title decider against its Riyadh rival.
“Now we have a derby match against our rival, which is a difficult encounter,” Jesus said.
“We are fully aware of its importance, and we are dealing with it with complete focus as we know that small details could decide the result.”
Ronaldo, a five-time Ballon d'Or winner, has yet to secure a major trophy in Saudi Arabia since signing with Al-Nassr in December 2022.
