21 February,2017 09:12 AM IST | | Asif Rizvi
Narcotics officials fear that synthetic drug, popular among Bollywood and TV celebrities, is being produced within state
Meow Meow
Representational picture
The rising cases of smuggling of the highly-addictive party drug, mephedrone, also known as meow meow, into Mumbai, has now led cops to focus on peddlers involved in its supply. To add to their worries, the police suspect the drug to be 'homegrown', with production units hidden in the outskirts. The development comes in the wake of over 20 kg of meow meow being seized this year in the city.
Also read: Cops suspect 'Bollywood drug' meow meow being made around Mumbai outskirts
"Meow meow is a synthetic stimulant drug. It is chemically similar to cathinone compounds, which are easily available with chemical and pharma dealers," said an anti-narcotics cell (ANC) officer.
Last week, the Ghatkopar unit of the ANCâÃu00c2u0080Ãu00c2u0088arrested a 39-year-old man with 200 gm of meow meow. The accused, identified as Yatin Sanghvi, is a resident of Pantnagar, Ghatkopar and works as a chemical and pharma agent. The cops are now investigating if Sanghvi had a larger involvement in supplying the chemicals to the makers.
On February 11, a politician was also arrested from Andheri with 1 kg of meow meow. AâÃu00c2u0080Ãu00c2u0088few days later, four people were arrested with 2.4kg of the drug. The police learnt that the drug was to be supplied to some dealer in the posh locality of Oshiwara. "Sources have told us that this dealer supplies drugs to film and TV artistes.
Also read - Mumbai Crime: Four arrested for supplying Meow Meow to Oshiwara dealer with 'Bollywood links'
We are investigating further," an official said. "Earlier, meow meow did not have a large reach among consumers. But, the drug has now found its way into colleges and is a hit among prominent personalities in Bollywood and TV."