NCB seizes ₹300 crore worth drugs, 150 kg 'meow meow' from Gujarat, Rajasthan

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), along with other forces, seized drugs worth ₹300 crore after busting a busts "whole network of clandestine Mephedrone manufacturing labs" in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Deputy Director General (OEC) Gyaneshwar Singh said in a press release on Saturday that a joint team of the NCB and Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) conducted raids at three “suspected locations” – Bhinmal in Jalore district of Rajasthan, Osian in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, and Gandhinagar in Gujarat.

They recovered 149 kg mephedrone (in powder and liquid form), 50kg Ephedrine and 200 litres Acetone. The agencies also apprehended seven accused persons as of now.

Mephedrone is also known as 4-methylmethcathinone, 4-MMC, and 4-methylephedrone. It is a synthetic stimulant drug of the amphetamine and cathinone classes. The “slang names” of this drug include drone, M-CAT, White Magic, “meow meow” and bubble.

"Based on the interrogation of the apprehended persons in Gandhinagar, another site has been identified in Amreli (Gujarat), where raids are in progress. More recoveries are expected," Singh said.

He said the “kingpin of this network” was identified and will be arrested soon. “Efforts are being made to track and identify the source of precursor chemicals as well as the distribution network, national as well as any international linkages,” police added.

The raids were conducted after ATS Gujarat Police received information regarding a “clandestine Mephedrone manufacturing labs operating from Gujarat and Rajasthan”.

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“To bust these labs, a joint team of ATS Gujarat police and NCB Headquarters Operations unit was constituted. In an operation spanning over three months, intensive technical and ground surveillance was mounted to identify the persons involved in this network as well as locations of clandestine labs,” police said in the press release.

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The operation was called "Operation Prayogshala-1". The raids are still underway. News agency ANI shared — ANI (@ANI) April 27, 2024 ">visuals of the lab where raids were underway.