Alprazolam factory in UP busted, trio held for masterminding ops

The accused not only sold the drugs in powdered form but also mixed it in palm wine, police said. The trio was helping a factory owner in Gajraula manufacture the product and smuggle it to different states via air and road, they said.

The Delhi Police special cell busted a facility manufacturing alprazolam — a psychotropic medicine used to treat anxiety, but misused as a recreational drug — in Gajraula town, Uttar Pradesh, recovering 700kg of the substance, valued at ₹148 crore, and arresting three masterminds from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, Haridwar, Uttarakhand, and a city in Telangana.

A Delhi police team, with the help of local police, raided the factory. They found 1,570kg of salts, and 400 litres of chemicals and oils.

The accused not only sold the drugs in powdered form but also mixed it in palm wine, police said. The trio was helping a factory owner in Gajraula manufacture the product and smuggle it to different states via air and road, they said.

Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Amit Kaushik said the busts were part of a three-month operation. “We were waiting to catch them red-handed. On April 25, the team intercepted a parcel sent by one of the members of the cartel through a courier company. The parcel was intercepted after it had passed through the IGI Airport,” he said.

Scanners at the airport missed the substance as the 2kg package was filled in silver plastic bags and covered from all sides with cardboard boxes, police said.

Kaushik said they followed the trail, which led them to a person in Haridwar, identified as Rachit Kumar, 22. “We were able to catch the ‘receiver’ Kumar in this case and recovered 1kg alprazolam from his house,” he said.

Police, after questioning Kumar, ascertained that he was an “expert” in concealing drugs in parcels that could evade security checks. “They were smuggling drugs through road and air. Kumar also ran a restaurant in Haridwar. He also supplied raw material, such as chemicals, to the factory owner,” a police officer said.

Kaushik said Namit Chaudhary, 34, of Bijnor, worked as a medical representative in Haridwar when he met Kumar, after which he quit his job and joined Kumar in his operations.

The third accused was identified as Vanga Rajender Goud, 49, who partnered with the duo to smuggle alprazolam to southern states and market it in other states. Goud, of Telangana, mixed the substance with palm wine and sold it in multiple states, including Delhi-NCR, police said.

Kaushik said Goud is a licensed palm wine seller. “To increase sales, he would mix drugs with his palm wine to increase the volume and potency of the drink,” he said.

“Our case was against the drug dealers but we decided to extend it and check the factory at Gajraula, Amroha. A team, with the help of local police, raided the factory. We found 1,570kg of salts, 400 litres of chemicals and oils in huge quantities. This was all being used to manufacture alprazolam. There were different machines and equipment to refine the chemicals and make the product,” a senior police officer said.

Kaushik said the factory owner fled the spot before the raid. “He told locals that he was making medicines that were exported to the US. He told local law enforcement agencies that he was producing chemicals for the agriculture industry,” he said.

The manufactured drugs were sent to the trio or sold in Delhi-NCR, police said.