**Underworld - linked drung syndicate busted in* *Maharashtra;mephedrone* , *raw material worth Rs 327 crore seized*

 

The MBVV police chief said that among the arrested, three are from Maharashtra, three from Telangana, eight from Uttar Pradesh, and one from Gujarat.

A major underworld-linked inter-state drug syndicate involved in the manufacturing, distributing and selling of synthetic drug Mephedrone (MD) was busted and its 15 memberes were arrested from four states, Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar (MBVV) police said on Wednesday. Drugs, chemicals and equipment used in manufacturing the drugs worth Rs 327.69 crore were also seized, they said.

Madhukar Pandey, Commissioner of Police, MBVV, said in a press conference that among the arrested, three are from Maharashtra, three from Telangana, eight from Uttar Pradesh, and one from Gujarat.

The investigation revealed that one Salim Dola was operating the syndicate. Dola is believed to be close to fugitive Dawood Ibrahim and his right-hand man Chhota Shakeel.

Dola, who has been listed as a wanted accused in the case, is already facing a Red Corner Notice (RCN) from the Interpol after his name came up in the Mumbai police's drug bust at a Sangli factory in March. In that operation, police arrested 11 people and seized 122 kg of high-quality mephedrone, as well as cash and gold worth Rs 253 crore.

Dola was operating the financial aspect of the syndicate through one Zulfikar Alias Murtaza Mohsen Kothari of Surat. Kothari was arrested from Surat and Rs 10.84 lakh cash was seized from him, police said.

Later, police also arrested two alleged hawala operators - Yusufbhai Furniturewala and Hussain Furniturewala - from Bhendi Bazaar and seized Rs 6.80 lakh cash from them. The money was sent to them by the wanted kingpin Dola, police said.

According to the MBVV police, their operation started in May this year when the officials from the crime branch unit-1 Kashimira, acting on specific inputs arrested two Vasai-based men - Shoaib Menon and Nicholas Tytas - on May 15 and seized one kilogram of MD drug worth Rs 2 crore from the car they were travelling in.

Information obtained from the two led Crime Branch officials to the other racket members. After this, the MBVV police raided in four states, including a raid on an MD manufacturing factory in Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, leading to the arrests of other racket members.

Jaunpur-based Abhishek alias Shubham Singh was also arrested from Nalasopara on Monday and three pistols, a revolver and 33 live cartridges were recovered from him. Police are probing the financial aspect of the syndicate and looking for other accused, said a senior officer.

Under the supervision of police commissioner Pandey and additional commissioner Shrikant Pathak, deputy commissioner (Crime) Avinash Ambure guided Kashimira Crime Nranch unit Inspector Aviraj Kurade and his team during the nearly two-month operation.

All the 15 racket members were arrested under relevant sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985 and other relevant acts of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act.