₹12,000-crore drug racket busted in Hyderabad, mastermind who supplied MD to MMR held

Following this thread, police tracked the supply chain deep into Mira Road East, where they apprehended Javed Umaruddin Mansoori, 38, who then led them to Mohammad Faheem Hafeez Rehman Malik, 46, and finally to Firoz alias Niyaz Naeem Shaikh, 39

MUMBAI: In a cross-state operation, the Crime Branch (Unit 3) of the Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police on Sunday hauled the alleged kingpin of a sprawling synthetic drug empire from Hyderabad to Mumbai, along with a haul of chemicals and raw materials worth 12,000 crores. The breakthrough came after a raid last Saturday that exposed a clandestine Mephedrone (MD) manufacturing factory in Hyderabad’s Cherlapally area.

₹12,000-crore drug racket busted in Hyderabad, mastermind who supplied MD to MMR held

The accused, Srinivas Vijay Murthy Voleti, 34, – a computer science graduate and owner of the illicit operation – was caught red-handed with his accomplice Tanaji Pandharinath Patwari, during the raid. Police say the duo churned out copious quantities of MD, supplying it to a sprawling network of local peddlers across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

On August 8, a routine Crime Branch patrol near Kashimira bus stop took a sharp turn into the underbelly of the narcotics trade. A young woman, Fatima Murad Shaikh alias Molla, 23, was nabbed with 105 grams of MD in her possession. Further investigation revealed that she had bought the stash from Kader Badshah Rehman Shaikh, 41, of Dahisar West.

Following this thread, police tracked the supply chain deep into Mira Road East, where they apprehended Javed Umaruddin Mansoori, 38, who then led them to Mohammad Faheem Hafeez Rehman Malik, 46, and finally to Firoz alias Niyaz Naeem Shaikh, 39.

Within days, six more key players were arrested, including Mustafa Yunus Khan, 22, Imran Aslam Khan, 33, Firoz Aslam Khan, 33, Javed Aslam Khan, 38, and Salim Khan, 38, along with a seizure of MD worth ₹5.5 lakh. Interrogations uncovered a crucial lead – the drugs were being supplied from Hyderabad.

Acting on this lead, the Crime Branch launched a planned operation in Hyderabad. Their investigation unearthed that Srinivas Voleti and Patwari were running a massive MD production hub at Cherlapally, masked behind two seemingly legitimate businesses – Vagdevi Lab, reportedly manufacturing COVID molecules since 2020, and Vagdevi Innoscience, a research outfit established in 2015.

During the raid, officials seized 5.79 kg of MD stimulants, 35,500 liters of precursor chemicals, 950 kg of powdered substances along with other equipment critical for MD production.

Voleti and Patwari were immediately arrested, and the duo is set to be produced in court on Monday. PI Pramod Badhak confirmed, “We secured a transit remand and brought them to Mumbai. The real story will come out once interrogation begins.”

Assistant commissioner Madan Ballal revealed, “We are zeroing in on the source of the raw materials. The scale of this operation suggests a well-oiled supply chain that extends beyond the two accused.”