Days after the arrest of an aeronautical engineer who was planning to set up a factory to manufacture mephedrone (MD, a psychotropic substance with street name meow meow) in Ratnagiri, the Thane Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) has arrested 11 suspects and busted a humongous MD racket with the seizure worth ₹10.5 lakh.
The arrests were made on Wednesday and Thursday. On March 21 (Tuesday), the Thane ANC had arrested seven persons, including the aeronautical engineer Abhishek Kuntal, 54, from Navi Mumbai.
MD worth ₹13L seized
Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Shinde said, “In the last four days alone, the ANC has arrested 11 suspects and seized MD worth ₹13 lakh.” He said the team received a tip-off and a trap was laid, leading to the arrest of 20-year-old Kamarujaman Ghulam Mohammad Shaikh alias Qamar from Dahisar Mori village on the Mumbra-Panvel Road. Qamar, a resident of Thakurpada in Dahisar, was carrying 55.3gm of MD.
Peddler sold druges in the guise of diaper business
On questioning Qamar, it came to light that he had purchased MD from Mohammad Sharif Abdul Hafeez Sheikh alias Papa, who was later arrested from Murud in Raigad. A resident of Mumbra, Papa peddled drugs in the guise of a diaper business. His supply came from one Waseem Anwar Baz alias Lala who lives in Kalyan. Lala was later arrested along with a Nigerian national from Kharghar.
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