Police busts drug factory in Sangli, seizes 122 kg of MD

Crime branch busts Sangli drug factory, seizes 122kg of mephedrone, ₹15L cash, gold worth ₹253cr. 6 arrested for manufacturing synthetic stimulants.

MUMBAI: The crime branch on Monday busted a drug factory in Sangli district and seized 122 kg of high-quality mephedrone (MD), ₹15 lakh cash, and gold worth around ₹253 crore. The police also arrested six people involved in the manufacturing and supplying of synthetic stimulants in the city and suburbs.

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The accused who had been running the laboratory for the past seven months had equipment like dryers, heaters, and various chemicals used for manufacturing MD, which was also seized by the police.

Earlier, in this case, the police arrested four people last month and seized 4 kilograms of MD from them and based on their interrogation, the police got leads to the factory. Acting on the tip-off, on February 16, officials of unit 7 of the crime branch arrested four accused and during the search they seized 4 kilograms of mephedrone from them.

The case was registered under the NDPS Act and Unit 7 started probing the case further to get a clue about the source of the drugs. During interrogation, the police got several leads that a few people were manufacturing MD in the Sangli district. Based on the interrogation, police inspector Neeraj Ubale of unit 7 along with his team, worked several days in Irali village situated in Kavathe Mahakal taluka of Sangli district and located the factory.

After the factory was identified, a team of over 10 police personnel on Monday raided the factory. Six people manning the factory were taken into custody and while searching their places, police also seized ₹15 lakh in cash and gold ornaments and a car, said a police officer.

A police source said, the primary suspect is a resident of Kavathe Mahakal taluka, who has been staying in Mumbai for more than a decade and was nabbed in the case for smuggling MD. With six more arrests in this case, the total count of the arrests has gone up to 10.

Last month, the Pune crime branch along with the Sangli police, conducted raids at three locations in Kupwad and seized 140 kg of mephedrone and arrested a total of eight people in the case.