Mephedrone worth over Rs 2 crore seized from Guj factory: DRI

Party drug Mephedrone worth over Rs 2 crore was seized by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) from a chemical plant in Gujarat's Bharuch district and one person was arrested, officials said today.

The DRI seized 2.019 kg of Mephedrone powder and 8.33 kg Mephedrone liquid from the factory located in Ankleshwar town, around 205 kms from here, during the raid yesterday.

The market value of the seizure is more than Rs 2 crore, stated a release issued by the Zonal unit of the DRI.

The agency also seized from the spot various chemical compounds being used in the manufacture of the drug.

The DRI officials arrested the owner of the chemical manufacturing unit for selling Mephedrone, a popular party drug, under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The owner, whose identity has been withheld, is a doctorate in Organic Chemistry, as per the release.

He was making the party drug at his factory under the guise of manufacturing legal chemicals, the release said.

The popularity of synthetic or party drugs like Mephedrone has increased manifold in the last few years in the country, it said.

"Liquid mephedrone is soluble in water and can either be taken orally or injected. The effects of the drug are similar to methamphetamine and cocaine. Its demand is very high among drugs addicts," said the release.

This is the third such case in the last three months wherein the DRI busted factories manufacturing banned drugs in Gujarat and neighbouring Maharashtra.

In separate operations in May this year, the agency had seized Tramadol worth more than Rs 100 crore from Palghar in Maharashtra and Valsad district in Gujarat, it said.