Maharashtra ANTF busts mephedrone racket, destroys 3 factories in Bengaluru

Thane, Dec 28 (PTI) The Maharashtra Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has busted an interstate drug manufacturing and distribution network, dismantling three mephedrone factories in Bengaluru and seizing contraband and machinery worth Rs 55.88 crore, officials said on Sunday.

The action, which is part of a state-wide crackdown against narcotics, began with the arrest of a man on the Pune-Mumbai Highway last week.

The Konkan unit of the ANTF seized mephedrone worth Rs 1.48 crore from the accused, Abdul Kader Rashid Sheikh, on the Pune-Mumbai highway at Vashi village in Navi Mumbai on December 21.

A case was registered, and the probe led the team to Prashant Yallapa Patil, a resident of Belgaum, who was involved in drug manufacturing, and they found out that the three factories were operating in Bengaluru.

Acting on this information, ANTF teams earlier this week arrested Suraj Ramesh Yadav and Malkhan Ramlal Bishnoi, both residents of Rajasthan, who were running the illegal operation in the Karnataka capital, the release stated.

The accused led investigators to the manufacturing units in NG Golahalli, Yerappanahalli and Kannur, and the raids resulted in the seizure of 21.4 kg of mephedrone, both in solid and liquid forms.

Machinery and chemicals used for production were confiscated, and all three factories were destroyed.

Preliminary findings suggest that mephedrone produced at these units was supplied to multiple states, and the proceeds were used to purchase real estate in Bengaluru.

Four persons have been arrested in connection with the case so far, while efforts are on to nab two key suspects. PTI COR ARU