In one of the biggest drug hauls in Mumbai, the Anti-Terrorism Squad seized 129 kilogrammes of mephedrone worth over Rs 51 crore in the illicit market from five people, an official said on Tuesday.
The seizure was made in the intervening night of Monday-Tuesday based on a tip-off that two people would arrive at a bus-stand in suburban Bhandup to sell the contraband, an official said.
"A search of the two people yielded 9 kgs of mephedrone. Their interrogation led us to three more people from whom we recovered 120 kgs of the drug from a factory. The total value of the drug is Rs 51.6 crore. We also seized Rs 1.04 crore cash from them," he added.
"Preliminary probe has revealed that the accused used advanced technology and high quality chemicals to produce mephedrone in large quantities. Searches are continuing at the factories where it is suspected that the drugs were being manufactured," said ATS deputy commissioner of police Vikram Deshmane.
All the accused have been charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and further probe into what might be among the biggest drug networks in the metropolis continued, he added.
Mephedrone is a synthetic stimulant drug, known as meow meow among various other code-names in peddlers' street lingo.