Maharashtra Police bust Rs 139 crore drug syndicate after routine Nalasopara MD seizure

A routine seizure of 112 grams of mephedrone MD worth Rs 336 lakh from Avinash alias Sonu Iyer 22 and Ravikant Ram 23 in Nalasopara East on June 24 led the MiraBhayandarVasaiVirar MBVV Crime Branchrsquos Unit 4 to a major interstate drug syndicateThe crackdown resulted in the arrest of 21 accused and the seizure of 69759 kg of MD 260 litres of chemicals laboratory equipment and cash The total value of the seized material has been estimated at Rs 139 crore69759 kg of MD seizedThe investigation revealed that the syndicate had allegedly shifted parts of its operations away from urban centres and into isolated agricultural land and rented sheds in smaller townsPolice said the network involved specialised roles ranging from financing and procurement to manufacturing transportation and retail distributionTechnical analysis of the seized material and interrogation of the accused helped investigators expand the probe across Maharashtra Gujarat and Uttar PradeshMD smuggled in Innova car panelsInvestigators found that the network allegedly used the door panels of an Innova car to conceal and transport MD into MumbaiAmong those arrested was Mohammad Haseeb Siddiqui alias Ijaz Merchant 36 an engineering graduate from DY Patil and former TCS employee He was arrested in Kurla with 11804 kg of MD and Rs 1870 lakh in cashAnother accused Rajnish Mishra 30 a BSc Chemistry graduate was allegedly linked to a manufacturing laboratory in Uttar PradeshPolice allege that Siddiqui had emerged as a major MD supplier in Mumbai procuring the drug from Uttar Pradesh and distributing it across the city and other parts of the stateSecret MD labs uncoveredInvestigators uncovered a fully functional MD manufacturing setup on agricultural land in Sandhan village in Kutch Gujarat Police said the land was owned by Jumma Thakra and the facility was allegedly financed by former spa operator Moinuddin PatelAccording to police Shan Ghazali Moinuddin Patel Adnan Juneja Dhavalpuri Goswami Mohammad Bilal Malkani Faizan Malkani Shahnawaz Khan Sohail Sheikh and Faizan Karnekar were allegedly involved in the Gujarat operationIn Prayagraj Uttar Pradesh police raided a rented shed on farmland in Kosada Kala and seized 52932 kg of MD and 260 litres of chemicals allegedly used in manufacturing including MMA acetone chloroform and hydrochloric acidPolice also recovered heavy industrial equipment including largecapacity flasks heating mantles dropping funnels and thermometers Another laboratory was allegedly being planned in Neral RaigadProbe uncovers alleged gang linksThe investigation subsequently led police to Kalyan where Aryan Harun Syed alias Zalim 25 was arrested Police allege that he was managing regional MD distribution to Pune Aurangabad and KalyanA police officer told midday ldquoAryan has criminal cases including under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances NDPS Act against him His relatives Ajmat Pathan and Rahmat Pathan who allegedly operated the Zalim gang are currently in jail after which Aryan allegedly took charge of its operationsrdquoWhen police closed in associate Zahid Sheikh alias Javed Bhai allegedly attempted to dump chemicals near Raite village along the VirarJNPT highway The chemicals were subsequently recovered by investigatorsSiddiqui allegedly worked with Moinuddin Sheikh alias Moin who helped distribute MD in Jalgaon and other parts of Maharashtra The arrests of associates Rahim Pinjari and Syed Mushaid Ali in Jalgaon led to the recovery of another 4911 kg of MDPolice probe possible international linksMBVV Police Commissioner Niket Kaushik and senior officers confirmed that the 21 accused allegedly handled specialised roles across the syndicate including financing procurement manufacturing transit and retail distributionPolice are now probing possible international links to the drug networkFrom urban hubs to rural hideoutsThe investigation indicates a shift in the way drug networks allegedly operate with syndicates moving manufacturing and storage activities away from densely populated urban centres to agricultural land isolated locations and rented sheds in smaller townsPrevious Unit 4 operation20 arrestedFive MD labs bustedMD worth over Rs 23 crore seizedCurrent operation21 arrestedTwo MD labs bustedTotal seizure valued at Rs 139 crore69759 kg MD seized260 litres of chemicals seizedCash and laboratory machinery recoveredInvestigating teamThe investigation was carried out under the supervision of MBVV Police Commissioner Niket Kaushik Additional Commissioner Sanjay Shintre and DCP Crime Sandeep Doifode along with other senior officers21 accused arrestedThe accused arrested in the operation areAvinash Loknath Iyer 22 Nalasopara EastRavikant Omprakash Ram 23 Nalasopara EastShan Irfan Ghazali 30 ColabaMoinuddin Shabbir Patel 28 AgripadaAdnan Razzak Juneja 36 ChinchbandarDhavalpuri Shankarpuri Goswami 33 Kutch GujaratMohammad Bilal Mohammad Yusuf Malkani 30 MadanpuraFaizan Mohammad Yusuf Malkani 33 MadanpuraShahnawaz Dilawar Khan 29 KalyanSohail Salim Sheikh 24 Karjat RaigadFaizan Nasuruddin Karnekar 21 Karjat RaigadZahid Hanif Sheikh 35 Karjat RaigadJumma Talab Thakra 34 Kutch GujaratAryan Harun Syed 25 KalyanMohammad Haseeb Siddiqui 36 Kurla WestRahim Taher Pinjari 28 JalgaonSyed Mushaid Ali Mumtaz Ali 39 JalgaonMoinuddin Usman Badshah Sheikh 24 MumbraMohammad Asim Kasam Qureshi 26 NagpadaRajnish Ramchandra Mishra 30 Bhadohi Uttar PradeshShivdhan Shambhunath Mishra 28 Bhadohi Uttar Pradesh