DRI Seizes ₹55 Cr Worth Mephedrone Narcotics

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has dismantled a clandestine mephedrone manufacturing laboratory and seized narcotic substances worth ₹55 crore while arresting four people, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

DRI launched an operation codenamed Operation 'Sahyadri Checkmate' and dismantled a clandestine mobile mephedrone manufacturing laboratory in the remote hinterland of the Sahyadri ranges, it added. DRI has apprehended four individuals in the operation.

"A total of 21.912 kg mephedrone in different forms, comprising 11.848 kg in liquid form, 9.326 kg in semi-liquid form, and 738 grams in crystalline form, was seized. In addition, 71.5 kg of raw material, capable of producing approximately 15 kg of finished NDPS substance, was also seized. The illicit market value of the seized NDPS substance is estimated to be approximately Rs 55 crore," it said in a statement.

The illicit laboratory was designed to evade detection by frequently shifting locations. Surveillance led to the identification of a camouflaged manufacturing unit operating under the guise of a poultry farm.

A coordinated operation launched by DRI on January 24 unearthed the makeshift, mobile and fully operational clandestine laboratory equipped with apparatus capable of manufacturing Mephedrone (NDPS substance).