Gujarat Police bust international drug racket, seize Ephidrine

The Gujarat Police claimed to have busted an international drug racket with the seizure of 1,364 kg of Ephedrine, a raw material used in the manufacture of party drug methamphetamine.

The Gujarat Police claimed to have busted an international drug racket with the seizure of 1,364 kg of Ephedrine, a raw material used in the manufacture of party drug methamphetamine. The contraband is valued at Rs 270 crore in the international market.

Police say the drug was meant for sale in Europe and India, and that this could be one of the biggest seizures in India. (Shutterstock/Representative Photo)

The drug haul was made in a joint operation by the Ahmedabad crime branch and the anti-terrorist squad during a raid on a factory on the city’s outskirts.

Police say the drug was meant for sale in Europe and India, and that this could be one of the biggest seizures in India.

A former Congress MLA Bhavsinh Rathod’s son Kishorsinh has emerged as the kingpin of this operation. He is yet to be arrested.

Following the raids at Riya Industries on Vehlala-Zak Road here, its owner Narendra Kachha was also arrested.

“Kishorsinh Rathod and a Mumbai-based man Jay Mukhi had procured this drug from Sholapur in Maharashtra from a person named Punit. They gave this drug to Kachha to convert it into crystal meth (methamphetamine), a party drug,” crime branch joint commissioner of police, JK Bhatt said at a press meet.

Kachha, who has a BSc degree, is involved in pharmaceutical business for the last 20 years and has the expertise to make the party drug from ephedrine, said the police.

Ephedrine is used in drugs that prevent low blood pressure and also for asthma, narcolepsy and obesity. It is a Schedule A controlled substance and as per the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, its purchase, sale and possession and import, export are banned without licence.