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New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Rajasthan Police arrested five people and seized chemicals worth crores of rupees in a joint operation to bust a clandestine laboratory in a remote village in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district. An official gave this information on Saturday.
The officer said in a statement that the seizure was enough to manufacture about 100 kg of mephedrone, which could be sold for up to Rs 40 crore.
It said the mastermind and four others have been arrested for running a lab to manufacture mephedrone, which is increasingly being used as a psychotropic drug in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Sirohi Police in Rajasthan found drums and packets filled with chemicals along with laboratory equipment in a remote farmhouse in Dantrai village in Rajasthan’s Sirohi district on November 6.
The police shared this information with NCB, Jodhpur, after which officials immediately reached the site and found signs of a secret lab.
A team from the National Forensic Science University (NFSU), Gandhinagar, was called in for inspection, and they confirmed the presence of precursors being used in the laboratory equipment recovered from the site.
During the investigation, the main characters behind running the lab were identified and five of them were arrested from different parts of Rajasthan and Gujarat by NCB, Jodhpur with the assistance of Rajasthan Police.
Mastermind Wala Ram resident of district Jalore, Rajasthan has been arrested. The statement said that during interrogation it was revealed that he is a graduate and after failing in various examinations including the Civil Services Examination, he decided to get into the business of manufacturing Mephedrone to earn quick money.
He had taken the farmhouse on lease in the name of his associate Bhura Ram, resident of Dhantarai village of Baltora district. The statement said he used virtual SIMs to communicate with other members of the syndicate and surfed the darknet to learn the manufacturing process.
He ordered chemicals and laboratory equipment from Ankleshwar, Gujarat. He was also wanted in a mephedrone smuggling case by the Central Bureau of Narcotics (CBN), the statement said.
The vehicle used to transport the chemicals and equipment has been seized. The statement said that investigation also revealed that he had manufactured 8 kg of Mephedrone, 2 kg of which was seized by the CBN from one of his associates on October 28.
An official in the matter said, the NCB used the mechanism of monthly District Level Narco Coordination Center (NCORD) meetings to sensitize the district police, especially in Rajasthan.
The state police was sensitive about the issue and informed the local office of the NCB about the presence of drums filled with chemicals and laboratory equipment at an unusual location, as such a place could be a secret facility for manufacturing synthetic drugs like mephedrone.
Red flag indicators regarding the presence of clandestine laboratories were also shared by the NCB with district police across the country. These included covered or blacked out windows; excessive ventilation/ducting; The statement said signs of metal corrosion or chemical stains on walls/floors, buildings or sheds, which were previously residential but were used as laboratories and storage of chemicals or equipment, in unusual locations.
–IANS
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