HYDERABAD: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted two clandestine mephedrone manufacturing laboratories in Hyderabad. Officials said that the network was exposed, and the mastermind and financier of the labs were also arrested.
The officials also seized 24.885 kg of the processed drug, worth Rs 49.77 crore in the grey market, along with in-process materials, sale proceeds of Rs 18.90 lakh, raw materials, machinery, and vehicles used for trafficking.
The DRI officials said, following specific information, the agency started a swift and well-coordinated operation on December 21, 2022, and busted the two clandestine labs. Seven persons carrying out the manufacturing in these two locations were arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
The DRI started an immediate follow-up action; the mastermind and main financier of this activity was nabbed at Gorakhpur, as he was attempting to flee to Nepal with cash of Rs 60 lakh.
It is pertinent to mention that some of the arrested persons were also accused in a 2016 DRI case for the manufacture of 236 kg of ephedrine at Indore. The DRI officials suspect that the accused may also be involved in the July 2022 case of clandestine manufacture of 667 kg mephedrone at Yamuna Nagar, subsequent prison break, and murder cases in Hyderabad and Vadodara.
This is the second such factory bust carried out by DRI in 2022. In this financial year alone, till November 2022, officers of DRI have seized about 990 kg of heroin, 88 kg of cocaine, 10,000 methamphetamine tablets, 2,400 litre of phensedyl cough syrup.