MD factory busted in Nalasopara, drug worth ₹13.44 cr seized

Mumbai police dismantled a Mephedrone manufacturing unit in Nalasopara, seizing 6.7 kg of the drug worth ₹13.44 crore after an initial arrest.

MUMBAI: The police on Sunday busted a Mephedrone (MD) manufacturing unit operating out of a makeshift factory in Pelhar, Nalasopara East, and seized 6.7 kilograms of the drug worth ₹13.44 crore.

MD factory busted in Nalasopara, drug worth ₹13.44 cr seized

According to the police, the crackdown followed the arrest of one peddler, Mohsin Qayyum Sayyad, 40, a resident of Govandi’s Gautam Nagar, on October 5 with 57 grams of MD. During interrogation, Sayyad revealed details that led the police to four more accused — Mehtab Sherali Khan, 29, and Iqbal Bilal Shaikh, 33, both from Govandi’s Shivaji Nagar; Sohail Abdul Rauff Khan, 36, from Ghatkopar East; and Ayyub Ali Abubakr Siddiqui, 23, from Karanjade, Panvel.

“Further probe revealed that Ayyub Ali, an SSC dropout, was running the illegal manufacturing unit. On Sunday, we raided the factory and seized 6.67 kilograms of Mephedrone along with raw materials and machinery used to produce the drug,” said Samir Shaikh, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 6).

Shaikh said that MD was manufactured by Ayyub Ali, while the other four distributed the drug across Mumbai and Mumbra. The factory was traced after the police developed information from the initial arrest and followed the drug trail from Chheda Nagar in Ghatkopar to Nalasopara, after which they raided the unit. “We are interrogating the accused to find more such factories run by them and whether they are affiliated with any gang,” he added.