Another meth lab busted in Greater Noida, two foreigners detained

On May 16, police had busted a meth lab run from a three-storey residential building in Theta-2, Greater Noida.

The Gautam Budh Nagar police on Tuesday busted a meth lab, allegedly set up and operated by foreign nationals from a two-storey residential building in Greater Noida, and recovered at least 30 kilograms of chemical drugs and also raw material, said senior police officers. Two foreigners who were found at the house at the time of the search have been taken into custody, they said.

Building in Mitra society, where the lab was located. (HT Photo)

The search was carried out on Tuesday morning on the premises located in Mitra society in Omega 1, officers said. At the time of writing this report, police are yet to ascertain the international market value of the drugs seized.

“On Tuesday, we have uncovered another meth lab being operated from Greater Noida. However, the quantification process is still underway and hence police cannot give the exact value of drugs recovered from there,” said SM Khan, deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

On May 16, police had busted a meth lab run from a three-storey residential building in Theta-2, Greater Noida, and recovered at least 46 kilograms of methamphetamine, or crystal meth, valued at ₹200 crore in the international market, besides raw material that is estimated to be worth about ₹100 crore, police said.

Ten foreigners -- nine from Nigeria and one from Senegal -- were arrested in connection with that search. They had set up a sophisticated laboratory in the house where the meth was being cooked, filtered and distilled, senior officers said.

On May 23, the police applied for the remand custody of five suspects to interrogate them. “During their interrogation, the suspects told us that Chidi Ijiagwa, who was not taken into remand at the time, was the main person operating the meth lab. The five suspects also told the police that Ijiagwa was running another meth lab in another location in Greater Noida,” said an investigator, on condition of anonymity.

After the remand custody of the five suspects ended last Saturday, police applied for Ijiagwa’s remand custody at the district courts in Surajpur on Monday. “On Tuesday, Ijiagwa during interrogation, told us the location of the second meth lab in Omega-1. Upon his directions, the police teams reached the two-storey house in Mitra Society around 11am and took custody of two foreigners and recovered drugs weighing over 30 kilograms, as well as raw material. This house had the same exact setup of a meth lab as was seen in the earlier house,” said the investigator, adding that the lab was running for at least the past one year.

The two-storey house is located in an upscale locality and officers said the landlord of the house is a resident of Delhi, who will be summoned by the police.

The police team remains engaged in questioning the foreigners found at the spot and is also planning to arrest more associates of the gang, officers said.

Laxmi Singh, commissioner of police, Gautam Budh Nagar,said, “The operation was carried out by the SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team of Gautam Budh Nagar police along with Greater Noida zone police. Further details are still being ascertained and will be conveyed to the press later.”

Ijiagwa’s remand custody was extended on Tuesday by another day by the district court in Surajpur, said police.