Delhi Police has failed to seize a single consignment of popular party drug 'Meow Meow', despite its "rampant use" in the national capital, even after the drug's induction in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act six months back.
While the existing network has come in handy in providing leads in cracking cases relating to other hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin, pseudo-ephedrine, LSD and even methamphetamine, it has failed with regard to Meow Meow, said an official in the Narcotics Wing of Delhi Police's Crime Branch.
"The presence of Mephedrone (Meow Meow) in party circuits of Delhi-NCR and its rampant trade in certain parts of the city are known to the police," the official said.
However, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav said the city police have a "dedicated" team tracking drug trade.
"We have made several good catches in connection with heroin, cocaine and other drugs. We shall continue our efforts with regard to any sort of banned narcotic or psychotropic substance being traded in Delhi," Yadav added.
In Delhi, it is suspected that Mephedrone - sold at around one-tenth the value of cocaine - has created a new customer base for itself in the city's party circuit, especially among youngsters who "cannot afford cocaine or Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)".
"A parallel trade is thriving which falls outside the purview of our sources present in the cocaine or LSD markets. This happens to be the leading reason behind the failure of the existing network, through which we have tracked drugs so far," the Narcotics Wing official said.
The official said there has been no drug haul in the past few months, despite tip-offs about Meow Meow being sold at several south Delhi areas including Munirka, Khirki Extension and Malviya Nagar.
In January 2015, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) was the first to come across Meow Meow in Delhi. Small quantities of the drug were recovered by them in two separate seizures.
In both cases, the substance was concealed inside capsules, which could either be swallowed directly or alternatively extracted and sniffed like cocaine, said an NCB official.
At that point of time, mephedrone was not considered a narcotic drug or psychotropic substance under the Indian Law. Though it was present in the list of new psychoactive substances, said the official. Later, on February 5, mephedrone was finally included in NDPS Act.
"There are unverified reports about mephedrone being used as a fertiliser in several parts of China and the drug sold in India is allegedly syphoned off largely from there," the NCB official said.
In February, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) also seized Meow Meow worth around Rs 30 crore in Delhi. The consignment was hidden beneath papaya stuffed in a truck, which had come from Sholapur in Maharashtra.
"That was the last Meow Meow seizure in Delhi by any agency which works on narcotics. Delhi Police, is yet to make its first Meow Meow haul," the official from Delhi Police narcotics wing added.
