Police seize 2.29 kg MD during nakabandi in Airoli toll naka

Mumbai police arrested a 27-year-old man with 2.29 kg of mephedrone worth ₹2.29 crore during a checkpoint. Two others were also detained.

MUMBAI: The police have arrested a 27-year-old man with possession of mephedrone (MD), a banned drug, worth around ₹2.29 crore while carrying out a routine nakabandi (checkpoint) at Airoli toll naka on Tuesday night.

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The accused, Mohammad Kalim Salim Chaudhari, a resident of Kurla, was driving a Maruti Suzuki Baleno. “We saw the car coming towards our direction but it stopped around 100 metres before the checkpost and two men seated in the backseat got down from the car. The driver then drove the vehicle slowly towards us. This made us suspicious,” said an officer from Navghar police station.

The police asked the driver to stop and while checking the vehicle, they found white crystalline powder when they questioned the accused and checked it properly, they realised it was a banned synthetic drug, mephedrone. The police also arrested two other persons and learnt they had several crimes registered against them.

“The drugs seized are around 2.29 kg worth around ₹2.29 crore in the illicit market. The value of pure 1 kg of mephedrone is estimated at ₹1.5 crore,” said a police officer.

“We have registered a case under sections 8(K) (prohibition of certain operations), 22C (punishment for contravention about psychotropic substances and possession of commercial quantity) and 29 (Punishment for abetment and criminal conspiracy) of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985,” said the police officer.