Pimpri Chinchwad police’s probe following seizure of Mephedrone, estimated to be valued at Rs 20 crore in the illegal market, has unearthed a big narcotics production and distribution ring near Pune.
According to the police, it emerged during investigation that drugs valued at more than Rs 130 crore in the illegal market were manufactured – and distributed in the past – at a biotech unit in Ranjangaon, about 50 km from Pune city, and the ring was allegedly operated by a criminal linked to the Chhota Rajan gang.
Among those arrested is a Nigerian national who looked after “bulk distribution of the contraband” manufactured at the biotech unit, Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner Krishna Prakash said.
On October 8, Pimpri Chinchwad police had seized a 20-kg consignment of the contraband substance Mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow, valued at Rs 20 crore in international market, and arrested five persons from a place near Chakan in Pune district.
Police commissioner Prakash subsequently formed six teams, coordinated by DCP Sudhir Hiremath, to probe into various aspects such as supply of materials, manufacturing, distribution of the contraband, etc.
Prakash told The Indian Express: “After the first five arrests, we have arrested nine more persons until now. Those arrested later include (suspected) kingpins of the racket – Tushar Kale and Rakesh Khaniwadekar, alias Rocky. Our probe till now suggests that Kale has links with the Chhota Rajan gang and Khaniwadekar is wanted by the Narcotics Control Bureau in other drugs cases.”
On the probe, Prakash said, “We initially zeroed in on a closed biotech unit in Ranjangaon industrial area in Pune district. We have arrested people who ran the unit and also those who supplied chemicals.”
The probe has found that approximately 112 kg Mephedrone was manufactured, in addition to the 20 kg seized by the police, Prakash said. “The total value of these drugs believed to have been manufactured at the unit would be over Rs 130 crore in the illegal international market. We have recovered Rs 85 lakh cash, frozen some bank accounts and have also sealed the manufacturing unit,” he said.
The police are now looking for a “network of smaller distributors who were part of the ring”, he said.
According to police officers, the Nigerian national, identified as Zubi Udoko, has earlier been arrested in cases of narcotics smuggling and found to possess a forged visa.
The investigation teams are probing whether the same racket was involved in manufacturing of contraband anywhere else, and also how nearly 112 kg Mephedrone was manufactured in the past, was distributed and sold.
Mephedrone, also known as Meow Meow or While Magic, is a synthetically manufactured stimulant of the amphetamine and cathinone category. Following multiple seizures of large quantities of the drug, and rising instances of its consumption as narcotics in big cities, Mephedrome was, in 2015, included in the list of contraband under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
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