Raigad police uncover 2nd godown with MD worth ₹218 crore

Further investigations in the MD drug haul case in Raigad, the police have uncovered a second godown containing MD worth ₹218 crore, bringing the total seizure to ₹325 crore. The investigation happened after the arrest of three individuals on Friday and the subsequent interrogation

Navi Mumbai: Further investigations in the MD drug haul case in Raigad, the police have uncovered a second godown containing MD worth ₹218 crore, bringing the total seizure to ₹325 crore. The investigation happened after the arrest of three individuals on Friday and the subsequent interrogation.

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Pravin Pawar, Konkan Range IG, disclosed that the police had been questioning the arrested trio, leading to crucial information about another stash of drugs hidden in a separate godown. Initially, on December 8, the Raigad police arrested Kamal Jeswani, Matin Sheikh, and Anthony Kurukuttikaran, seizing MD valued at ₹107 crore from a Khopoli factory.

Following the confession by one of the accused, the Khopoli police raided a godown in Honad village and found seven barrels containing 174.5kg of MD worth ₹218 crore. “We have found that the accused have previously exported drugs to multiple countries and we are verifying the same. Further investigations are on to find if there are more people involved,” Pawar said.

The Raigad superintendent of police said, “We suspect that the drugs found in this godown were stored there for the last two months. The manufacturing unit was rented out by the accused since January this year for ₹55,000 per month. We are investigating when was the godown rented out at Honad. The accused used to export the drugs to various countries from JNPT by preparing fake documentation showing the drugs as a chemical. We are trying to verify how many consignments were shipped to which countries.”

The police suspect that the accused used to collect drugs till it reached 200 to 300 kgs and then they would ship the consignment in bulk. The accused allegedly employed laborers at the manufacturing unit, potentially unaware of the illicit activities. Among the trio arrested, Kurukuttikaran is a BSc Chemistry graduate and is suspected to be the brain behind the manufacturing as well as the exporting. All the accused have been remanded in police custody till December 14.