China White drug under Mumbai police lens after MD seizures
A Mumbai ANC official said they suspect that the new drug is being smuggled into India from China
Police are on the lookout for a new form of synthetic drug, ‘China White’, which may have replaced mephedrone (MD) in the market.
Officials said China White could have been brought into circulation after the anti-narcotics cell (ANC) and other anti-drug agencies cracked down on MD, which was brought under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2015.
An ANC official said they suspect that the new drug is being smuggled into the country from China. Although it has not been detected in Mumbai yet, police said they have reason to suspect that it might be smuggled in via the North East.
While the city’s anti-drug agencies have drug-testing kits, these cannot detect MD. They thus have to depend on the state forensic laboratory to get results. This means China White will be even harder to detect.
Another ANC official said they are being cautious as the supply of MD has been hit, owing to numerous crackdowns and police raids on factories producing the drug around Mumbai and in Pune, Solapur and Thane. This has left the market open to the introduction of a new drug. Another reason they are alert is that the new, cheap synthetic drug is not covered under the NDPS Act. This means booking peddlers will be difficult.
The anti-drug agencies have found that synthetic drugs are usually supplied in nightclubs and at colleges where cheap narcotics are in high demand.
They are also popular among call centre employees, who use them to stay awake. Others use such drugs to lose weight.
Agencies have asked their informers to keep a watch on peddlers.Deputy commissioner of police (ANC) Shivdeep Lande said they were on the alert to ensure no illegal narcotics or synthetic drug enters the city.
