Drugs worth Rs 50,000 crore seized in Maharashtra in recent past: Fadnavis

The Maharashtra police have seized drugs worth about Rs 50,000 crore in the state in the recent past, said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the legislative assembly on Friday.

He was replying to a question by Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Ravindra Waikar, who represents the Jogeshwari East constituency in Mumbai.

In a major haul, the Mumbai police recently seized 151 kg of mephedrone worth Rs 300 crore and arrested more than a dozen persons from several cities in an operation that also included a raid in a factory in MIDC Shinde Gaon in Nashik district.

The police have seized drugs worth Rs 50,000 crore in the recent past. The police discretely tracked 2,200 small shops (selling drugs) in Mumbai and removed them to curb the menace of drugs, said Fadnavis.

The deputy CM, however, did not specify the exact period during which the drugs were seized.

The state government is keeping a watch on chemicals being imported which could be used to make drugs. We have also found that closed factory sites are being used for drug production, Fadnavis added.

Following the Rs 300-crore drug bust by the Mumbai police, the opposition and ruling dispensation have targeted each other over key accused Lalit Patil.