The Directorate of Revenue and Intelligence (DRI) on Friday caught a PhD degree holder chemist red-handed while delivering 3.15 kilograms of the banned psychotropic substance, mephedrone -- that he himself manufactured -- worth Rs 63.12 lakh to a man in Hyderabad.
Mephedrone (technically known as 4Methylmethcathinone or 4-methylephedrone) is a synthetic stimulant drug generally abused for recreation and popular among the urban college-going crowd.
Commonly known as DRONE, Meow Meow, etc., it is known for its effects similar to that of MDMA, amphetamine and cocaine.
The chemist, who worked in the pharma sector, and his customer have been arrested and the drug seized.
As per a DRI statement, a raid was conducted at the chemist's secret lab on the outskirts of the city, from where another 112 gram of mephedrone samples, worth Rs 12.40 lakhs have been seized.
219.5 kg of raw materials, sufficient to make another 15 to 20 kilograms of the substance, were also recovered.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the man, a PhD holder in Chemistry has manufactured and sold more than 100 kilograms of mephedrone in the last year and that a Mumbai-based network is reportedly behind the drug network operating on the 'Meow Meow' drug, mephedrone.
(With inputs from ANI)
