Inside a drug factory: Solapur drug unit busted by Mumbai Police

The Mumbai Police strategically nabbed two suspects last month, both brothers, in relation, from the Khar area in the western suburbs of the city.

The police officials from the crime branch of Mumbai Police, while investigating the drug peddling trail reached Solapur district in Maharashtra where the officials of the Mumbai Crime Branch's unit 9 found a systematically arranged drug factory with all the equipments to produce the banned drug- Mephedrone also commonly called MD or Meow Meow.

The factory had systematic process to produce Mephedrone

The factory that was busted by the Mumbai Police last month had all the setup in place. The drug manufacturing unit had a boiler, mixer, a heating line also called the SSR tank which is used for the heating process while making the drug, it also had huge distribution flasks, JLR also known as the final chemical reaction to the product.

Seized drug-making raw material during a raid in Solapur

Sources said, the team during the raid allegedly found chemicals, and raw materials all that was needed to produce the mephedrone in the factory. The processing unit was set up in a 2,000 sq. ft area of the unit.

They said, the police recovered chemicals including Methanol, Acetone, Solvent, Hydrochloric Acid, etc. of five drums each with a capacity of around 172 litre.

The team of officials also recovered Hydrogen Hydrate- 520 litre, 85 kilos of Acetone, 50 litre of HCL Acid and 43 bags of Hydrogen Hydrochloride Powder. Each bag weighed around 50 kilos.

"A case has been registered in the matter under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Further investigations are underway," an official said.

Both brothers once worked in a chemical factory

An official said, the investigators while interrogating the suspects found that the two suspects- aged 32 and 27 respectively, once worked in a chemical factory and had a very low income. The two brothers allegedly came up with a plan and decided to set up a factory of drugs to increase their income in a short span of time. The duo decided to manufacture the drugs and allegedly planned to set up a factory in the Chincholi area of Solapur in Maharashtra. They bought a unit spanning 21,000 sq ft. on a rental basis and then sourced the machinery used in the drugs-producing lab.

However, they went out of luck after the Mumbai Police officials zeroed in on the drug peddlers in the city, sources said.

The police said that its crime branch unit-9 busted a drugs manufacturing factory in Solapur district of Maharashtra and seized drug manufacturing materials valued over Rs 100 crore in the market. According to the Mumbai Police, the crime branch unit-9 had initially received information regarding drug peddlers being active in Bandra (West) and Khar areas of the city and a special team was formed to investigate the matter.

The team was led by Inspector Daya Nayak and monitored by senior police officials including crime branch ACP Mahesh Desai, sources added.

"It was found that some peddlers were active at Carter Road in Khar west area and a trap was laid recently to nab the culprits. Two suspects were nabbed from the spot," an official said.

Drugs worth crores seized

The police said a huge quantity of drugs was seized from the suspects- aged 32 and 27 respectively. From one of the suspect 2.547 kilos of mephedrone (MD) drugs was seized, it was valued at over Rs 5.9 crore in the market whereas drugs worth over Rs 5.8 crore was seized from another suspect, weighed around 5.8 kilos.

During the interrogations of the suspects and further analysis of the peddlers, the team of police officials found that a drug manufacturing factory was operational in the Chincholi MIDC area of Solapur district of Maharashtra. After working out the available clues, the team raided the factory and found several drugs manufacturing equipment, raw materials, and drugs. The police officials later seized the factory, the total seizure in the entire operation valued over Rs 100 crore, the police said.

Mephedrone drugs weighing 3.006 kilos were also seized in the entire operation by the crime branch officials. The estimated value of the drugs is over Rs 6 crore in the international market, an official said.