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 cityThe 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 Branchs unit 9 found a systematically arranged drug factory with all the equipments to produce the banned drug Mephedrone also commonly called MD or Meow MeowThe factory had systematic process to produce MephedroneThe 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 productSeized drugmaking raw material during a raid in SolapurSources 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 2000 sq ft area of the unitThey said the police recovered chemicals including Methanol Acetone Solvent Hydrochloric Acid etc of five drums each with a capacity of around 172 litreThe 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 kilosA case has been registered in the matter under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act Further investigations are underway an official saidBoth brothers once worked in a chemical factoryAn 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 21000 sq ft on a rental basis and then sourced the machinery used in the drugsproducing labHowever they went out of luck after the Mumbai Police officials zeroed in on the drug peddlers in the city sources saidThe police said that its crime branch unit9 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 unit9 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 matterThe team was led by Inspector Daya Nayak and monitored by senior police officials including crime branch ACP Mahesh Desai sources addedIt 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 saidDrugs worth crores seizedThe police said a huge quantity of drugs was seized from the suspects aged 32 and 27 respectively From one of the suspect 2547 kilos of mephedrone MD drugs was seized it was valued at over Rs 59 crore in the market whereas drugs worth over Rs 58 crore was seized from another suspect weighed around 58 kilosDuring 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 saidMephedrone drugs weighing 3006 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