Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has taken over the investigation into the seizure of 1,836kg Mephedrone (MD) worth Rs3,672 crore by the Pune police earlier in February during raids at a chemical manufacturing factory in Daund.
MD is a narcotic stimulant that goes by the street name meow-meow or MCAT. The federal anti-narcotics agency, NCB, will probe the pan-India and international linkages of a trafficking network of drug manufacturing, distributors, and peddlers run by a British national of Indian origin, Sundip Dhunay.
Dhunay is the prime accused; he fled from India to a West Asian country via Nepal when the Pune police busted the chemical processing of MD at Daund.
Red Corner Notice Issued
A Red Corner Notice and Interpol lookout notice has been issued against Dhunay, confirmed a senior NCB official. The Pune police crime branch had first arrested gangster Vaibhav alias Pintya Mane and accomplice Ajay Karosiya with MD worth Rs2 crore, leading to the subsequent seizure of a 55kg consignment at a godown in Bhairav Nagar, Vishrantwadi.
The police investigation further led to the chemical factory Earthchem Pvt Ltd’s manufacturing plant in Kurkumbh MIDC and the seizure of 970kg of drugs transported to and hidden in the South Extension area of New Delhi, and another consignment of 150kg stored at Sangli.
The police had unearthed a sophisticated production line for the synthetic stimulant from a pharmaceutical unit at an industrial cluster in Kurkumbh.
ED Starts Investigation Into Hawala Transactions
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also started an investigation into the hawala transactions of the drug distribution network in major cities and trafficking to London in ready-to-eat food packets shipped by a courier agency in Delhi.
Arrests Made So Far
The police have arrested nine accused, including a chemical synthesis expert processing the synthetic drugs and owners of the godowns, chemical factory, courier, and logistic employees for distribution of the illicit drugs. The probe has revealed that accused Haider Sheikh had sent several crores generated from the sale of MD to Delhi through hawala and further to Dubai and London.
