NCB disposes seized illicit narcotics worth ₹175 cr

The NCB disposed of ₹175 crore worth of drugs in Mumbai, including 20 kg of Mephedrone, after seizing 982.10 kg from various syndicates.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai Zonal Unit of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has disposed illicit narcotics worth ₹175 crore, which it had seized during 95 operations against international and inter-state syndicates this year.

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The disposed narcotics included 20 kilograms of Mephedrone with the street name of MD, a synthetic stimulant, which it had seized during a crackdown on an alleged syndicate operating from Dongri in the city in June this year.

In all, 982.10 kg of illicit drugs were incinerated by the NCB on Thursday in a facility of the Mumbai Waste Management Ltd in Taloja, Navi Mumbai. Multiple offenders including foreign nationals, were arrested during the investigations conducted in the seizure cases.

The contraband was destroyed under the supervision of the Regular Drug Disposal Committee (RDDC) that was set up for the purpose by the NCB. The RDCC ordered for the disposal after selecting the eligible cases during a review of the cases in which seizures were made, agency sources said. Once the legal requirements were met, the agency issued a notification for the disposal, as per the guidelines related to such an exercise.

In the June case, in which Mephedrone was seized, the NCB had apprehended multiple accused including the syndicate’s kingpin, financer, key operators, and seized multi-crore assets. The disposed drugs also included ganja or marijuana, ephedrine, codeine-based cough syrup, Nitrazepam tablets, heroin, cocaine, MDMA/Ecstasy tablets, Methamphetamine, charas, opium, Zolpidem, Alprazolam and Tramadol, agency sources said.

“NCB has been robustly engaged towards ensuring a drug free society, clamping down on inter-state as well as international drug syndicates by curbing drug trafficking and busting the financial linkages,” the agency’s additional director (Mumbai), Amit Ghawate, said.