Just 12 mephedrone cases filed this year

MUMBAI: The anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police has initiated just 12 cases of possession of the drug Mephedrone (MD), popularly known as meowmeow, this

MUMBAI: The anti-narcotics cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police has initiated just 12 cases of possession of the drug Mephedrone (MD), popularly known as meowmeow, this year.

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The drug had been included last year in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and has created a menace in the city and its outskirts.

In the past year, authorities have seized a considerable amount of the drug from chemical factories in western Maharashtra, including a major haul in Pune last week by the Customs department.

According to statistics, however, the ANC has arrested only 18 people in Mephedrone cases, while just 2.997kg of MD has been seized. Last year, the ANC initiated 28 cases, arrested 36 people and seized 2kg of the drug.

After a prolonged campaign on its abuse by various enforcement agencies and state governments and the Bombay high court, Mephedrone was included under the NDPS Act on February 5, 2015.

The other drugs cases initiated are heroin (12), charas (7), cocaine (13), marijuana (32), LSD (1), Korex cough syrup (2) and opium (1).

Altogether, the ANC has initiated 80 drug-related cases this year, in which 98 people and 126kg of drugs worth around Rs1.49 crore has been seized.

The drug, which induces a state of euphoria, has become a substitute for the more-expensive cocaine and MDMA.

A senior ANC officer, on condition of anonymity, said, “We do not initiate cases for a particular drug as cases pertaining to all the drugs are important to us. We have already seized more MD this year, compared to the previous year. Besides us, the police stations also initiate cases.”