MUMBAI: The syndicate that was allegedly running a mephedrone lab in Dahanu is likely to have supplied to drug dealers in Gujarat.
The lab, which was being run by Sanyal Bane and his two accomplices, was busted on Friday after the Amboli police learned about it from an arrested drug peddler. Bane, Sultan Rauf, and Anwar Chowdhary were arrested, and 900 grams of mephedrone, large quantities of raw material, and laboratory equipment were seized.
According to the police, inquiries indicate that the accused, who used to supply the mephedrone to dealers in Mumbai, might have supplied in Gujarat as well. “Bane, who had been staying in Palghar, hails from Valsad, while Rauf is a native of Daman. The proximity of the laboratory to the Maharashtra–Gujarat border, the fact that Daman is on the way from Palghar, and Rauf’s history as a drug dealer have led us to suspect that they were supplying mephedrone in Gujarat,” said an officer with the Amboli police.
The officer said the Gujarat police are being contacted to find out if either of them has criminal records there. “If they have criminal records, we might be able to trace their known associates, which might give us an idea of whether their drugs were being sold in Gujarat.”
The police have already established that Rauf, using his connections in the drug peddler circuit in Mumbai, would facilitate the sale and transport of the mephedrone processed by Bane.
Prima facie, the police believe that Bane’s product had a wide clientele in the western suburbs, and possibly in the struggling actor-model circuit, as one of the side effects of the drug is rapid loss of weight.
The police have sent samples of the mephedrone seized from the laboratory to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Kalina and are awaiting reports.
The accused are being interrogated for the source of the equipment and the raw material. The accused have been remanded in police custody till September 1.