In one of the biggest drug hauls in recent times, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 500 kgs of Mephedrone, a party drug, worth Rs 30 crore in the street market, from a truck here.
Extremely addictive with several debilitating side effects, Mephedrone was included under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act on February 5 this year as a restricted drug.
"This is one of the biggest seizure of drugs in the country and certainly the biggest of Mephedrone," according to a Finance Ministry statement. It is also the first case of Mephedrone's seizure in the country after its inclusion in the NDPS Act.
The DRI sleuths intercepted a truck here which was coming from Kurutuwadi area of Solapur district of Maharashtra on Friday mid-night after getting an intelligence input.
The truck was stated to be carrying a consignment of papayas, but a thorough search resulted in recovery of 13 sacks containing 500 kgs of the psychotropic substance Mephedrone, release issued today said.
The contraband was kept along with papaya and was concealed under the tarpaulin used for covering the truck, it said.
The seized consignment value is estimated to be about Rs 30 crore, the release said.
The party drug is extremely popular in western countries and increasingly becoming a major drug of abuse in India.
This is one of the biggest seizures of Mephedrone, a stimulant of the amphetamine class, which gets its street name 'Meow Meow', it said.
The driver of the truck and a person accompanying him were arrested and later produced before a Saket court which sent them to jail.
The contraband is suspected to have been loaded at Kurutuwadi in Solapur district of Maharashtra.
The DRI officials have located the factory, where the seized drug was manufactured, in Solapur.
"Further investigations are in progress," the release said.
Mephedrone's popularity in India is due to the fact that it was not considered a psychotropic substance and available easily, it said, adding that,"in view of its abuse, Mephedrone was included under NDPS Act on February 5, 2015 as restricted drug."
Commercial quantity for this drug is fixed at 50 gms.
