Mephedrome is a poor man’s cocaine. The drug is in very high demand among illegal drug consumers in Mumbai.

Touted as the biggest and record drug haul, the Mumbai Anti-Narcotics Cell on Wednesday seized 700 kg Mephedrome worth over Rs.1400cr and arrested five accused. One among the five accused is an Organic chemistry post-graduate who taught himself to synthesise MD, also known as Meow Meow on MKat on the streets.

As per the ANC, investigations were first initiated against the accused in March this year, when the agency’s Ghatkopar unit arrested a local peddler with 250 grams of MD. The names of the accused have been withheld as more arrests are imminent. Their interrogation led the ANC to his supplier, also based in Govandi, from whom 2.76 kg was seized.

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP, ANC) Datta Nalawade Further investigation led to the arrest of two more accused, a man and a woman, who were also supplying the drugs in the eastern suburbs. Both were arrested in July this year, further adding the agency went on to arrest the main accused, a 55-year-old Nallasopara resident, who lives with his wife and two children. He was manufacturing the drug and providing it to suppliers as per order, but never accepted any order for less than 25 kg. The payment was taken in advance, with a guarantee that the drugs would be delivered within a few hours of the payment being received.

Based on the interrogation of the main accused, the ANC on Wednesday raided a tenement in Nallasopara where commercial spaces were being given out on rent, and seized 700kg of MD, worth Rs 1,400 crore, from a godown. The police have also found that the main accused had set up multiple social media accounts in various names, through which he was accepting orders for the drug.

News Input: K.V.Raman