LUCKNOW The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), in coordination with the UP Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), busted a clandestine mephedrone manufacturing laboratory in a remote village in Orai, Jalaun district, seizing 1,102.88 kg of drugs, semi-processed substances and precursor chemicals valued at over ₹ 300 crore and arresting two alleged members of a drug manufacturing and trafficking network, officials said on Thursday.
Investigators were probing the source of the raw material, the laboratory’s production capacity and the intended distribution network. In March, the Gujarat ATS, assisted by the UP Police, busted a suspected mephedrone facility operating from a poultry farm in Ramnagar Karai village in Ambedkar Nagar district. In August, the DRI uncovered an illegal psychotropic drug manufacturing facility in residential premises in Jewar, Gautam Buddha Nagar district.
The arrested men were identified as Hemendra Kushwah, 27, a resident of Orai, and Santosh, 37, from Maharashtra, sources privy to the investigation said. The search yielded 582.2 kg (gross weight) of precursor chemicals and other material, besides the semi-processed substances. The raid yielded 6 kg of mephedrone in solid form, 50 kg in liquid form, 88 kg of a chemical used in its manufacture and around 200 kg of other raw materials and chemicals. It seized around 30 kg of amphetamine and intermediate substances, 30 kg of precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment, and arrested two people.
Officers moved through the narrow lanes of the village before raiding the premises with UP ATS personnel, according to the DRI.
The operation yielded 52.932 kg of the synthetic drug, taking the total recovery in the wider case to 69.759 kg, with the alleged illicit market value estimated at around ₹ 100 crore. In September, Maharashtra’s Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar crime branch uncovered a mephedrone manufacturing unit in Prayagraj. The investigation began with a smaller seizure in Maharashtra and led to arrests across multiple states.
