The Anti Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested the director of a Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company, after investigations revealed the company had sent 400 kg of fentanyl, a controlled substance, to an Italian firm without the requisite permissions last year. The same company was linked to a seizure of 100 kg of fentanyl in 2018.
Fentanyl is an opioid used as pain medication and an ingredient in anaesthetics. It is also used as a recreational drug, often mixed with heroin or cocaine, and its potency makes it a drug in high demand in several countries, giving rise to illegal export rackets.
ANC officers said the accused, Deepak Mehta, is the director of the Sam Fine O Chem company in Rajkot. The company first came under the scanner in December last year, when the ANC’s Azad Maidan unit seized one of its consignments of 100 kg of fentanyl, and arrested four people.
“The accused were going to send the drugs to Mexico using forged documents. The consignment would have been worth ₹6,900 crore in the international market. Our investigation led us to Sam Fine O Chem, where 16 kg more of fentanyl was seized,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Shivdeep Lande, ANC, said.
The ANC examined documents seized from the company, which, along with the interrogation of the accused, revealed that another large consignment had been exported illegally last year. The ANC on Thursday arrested Mr. Mehta and charged him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
“We learnt that the 16 kg seized from the company godown was part of a larger consignment, of which 400 kg had already been sent to an Italy-based company, Cambrex Profarnaco Milano. This consignment was sent without permission of the Central Bureau of Narcotics, a central government body that comes under the Department of Revenue. These permissions are mandatory for sale or export of controlled substances, making it an illegal transaction,” Mr. Lande said.