Mumbai Crime: Drug maker went from organic chemistry graduate to crorepati

Prem Prakash Singh arrived in Mumbai in 1996 hoping to make the best of his MSc in Organic Chemistry and MBA Finance degrees He excelled in chemical production but a Telegram message in 2019 changed his life The Dahisar resident switched to making mephedrone In the recent drug haul worth Rs 2500 crore Singh emerged as the sole manufacturer His assets 10 flats five shops land parcels godowns Rs 35crore investments Rs 5 crore bank deposits benami properties worth crores and countingCiting their preliminary probe sources in the AntiNarcotics Cell ANC of Mumbai police said Singhrsquos properties and bank balances are just the tip of the iceberg Mephedrone also known by names like MD or meow meow is a synthetic stimulant drug The size of the seizure points to its growing demand they saidAlso readMD worth Rs 2435 crore seized by Crime Branch in drug probe since MarchPrem Prakash Singh main accusedSingh now 52 did his MSc in 1992 from Purvanchal University Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh He also finished his MBA Finance from the same university before landing in Mumbai in 1996 He just had a flat in Nalasopara that had been gifted to him by his fatherinlawWas always ambitiousSingh was always keen on owning a pharma company to capitalise on his experience ldquoHe initially worked as a freelancer with chemical manufacturers and came in contact with many big chemical companiesrdquo said an ANC officer privy to the investigationFour years later Singh started his own firm named Shreya Chemicals supplying compounds to several companies His graph appeared steady till 2019 before moving to the highspeed laneSingh owns a 3BHK flat at Northern Heights Dahisar PicAtul KambleThe ANC officer said a drug dealer got in touch with Singh after checking the latterrsquos profile that he could cook up more than 100 chemicals ldquoThe chemical list also has the name of ketamine which is known as cocaine of the poor On Telegram the drug dealer coaxed him to make mephedrone saying it would help him earn in crores Singh made the first consignment of just 50 grams at his home and sent it to the dealer who loved the quality of the drug he had producedrdquo said the officerSingh soon started utilising his contacts that he had made during his freelance job He first got his touch with Kiran Kumar an accused in the case and manager of Namau Chemicals at Ambernath a leading manufacturer of chemicals ldquoHe produced a large quantity of MD at the same chemical manufacturing company and sold them in the market with the assistance of various dealers with whom he interacted on Telegram in 201920rdquo Said Datta Nalawade deputy commissioner of police ANCThis year Singh bought a flat Northern Heights Dahisar for Rs 16 crore PicAtul KambleAs his business grew Singh began supplying over 100 kg a month to more than 35 drug dealers mostly in Mumbai and Maharashtra To produce more mephedrone he shifted base to Gujaratrsquos Ankleshwar where he started dealing with Giriraj Dikshit another accused whom he knew from his freelancing time Dikshit was also a director of Infinity Research and Development which is into making secondstage industrial chemicals Dikshit also a postgraduate in Organic Chemistry helped Singh produce lots of mephedrone and both earned millions of dollarsBetween 2019 and 2021 Singh produced at least 15 tonnes of mephedrone worth Rs 3000 crore In the past six months ANC officers said he received orders for over 15 tonnes from a Gujarat factory out of which the police have so far recovered 1218 kg in two different raidsmdash705 kg worth Rs 1450 crore from a Nalasopara godown on August 2 and 513 kg worth Rs 1026 crore from Gujarat on August 13Singhrsquos godown at Nalasopara from where MD worth Rs 1400 crore was seized on August 3Officers claimed this is one of the biggest recoveries of MD in the history of ANC and across the world The last huge consignmentmdashabout 1200 kgmdashof MD was seized in RussiaSimple life amassed wealthDespite amassing wealth ANC sources said Singh lived a simple life He doesnrsquot even own a car He has mostly invested in properties they said This year he purchased a 3BHK flat worth Rs 16 crore in Dahisarrsquos E most luxurious highrise Northern Heights on the Western Express Highway He also purchased a 1BHK flat in Dahisarrsquos Enrose Apartment for Rs 50 lakh He owns two shops worth Rs 306 crore at Dahisar apart from ploughing in Rs 35 crore in different investments He has bought a piece of land worth Rs 5 crore at the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation in Saykhya The police have also discovered his flats and shops in Nalasopara and Vasai ldquoAll his properties were thoroughly examined and some of them have been attached as proceeds of crimerdquo said NalawadeSmall team big impactANC said Singh was suspected to be in contact with at least 35 drug dealers He kept a low profile and only 67 people worked under him ldquoHe never trusted anyone and always used to visit personally for deliveries His modus operandi was that he never provided more than 25 kg of mephedrone to any dealer At the time of delivery locations were changed multiple times to ensure that there was no trouble from lawenforcement agenciesrdquo said NalawadeSingh would accept only cash before delivery and the money was deposited in his 6 accounts Some of the cash deposits are above Rs 40 lakh The cops are surprised that no bank alerted the IT about itHad a copy of NDPS ActSources at ANC said Singh was well aware of what he was into and he might land in a mess one day But the lure of the profit margin always got the better of him ldquoHe also had a copy of the NDPS Act at home and would read it He was once confronted by his family about the huge money he was earning despite not having any job He told them that he was into some chemicals which are banned in Indiardquo said an ANC officer Singh lived with his wife and two children His son is a BTech and the daughter is a graduateHow his network was bustedMumbairsquos own Breaking Bad story began unravelling in March following the arrest of Shamshullah Khan 38 by the Worli unit of ANC Khan who was arrested from Shivaji Nagar Govandi had 250 grams of MD on him The cops then nabbed three people including a woman from Shivaji Nagar Palghar and Ambernath These three were identified as Ayub Shaikh 35 Reshma Chandan 49 and Riyaz Memon 43 ldquoTechnical examination of these accused led us to Singh who turned out to be one of the biggest manufacturers of MDrdquo said NalawadeSinghrsquos Rs 5cr offer to copsAccording to ANC sources Singh was a difficult nut to crack and remained tightlipped about the consignment he had parked in his Nalasopara godown ldquoHe even offered Rs 5 crore to the officers in exchange for his release The officers accepted his offer to win his trust He then took them to his godown where the cops were stunned to find such a huge consignment of mephedrone They seized the drug and arrested himrdquoThe police have also found that Singh has shipped some products to Malaysia Mauritius and a few other countries but they are not sure if they were drugs1218 KGQuantity of MD seized from Singh15 tonnesSinghrsquos MD orders in 6 mths10No of flats Singh ownsWhat is mephedroneMephedrone or 4methylmethcathinone is a synthetic stimulant drug It has an array of slang including drone MCAT White Magic meow meow bubble and yurrpt The psychoactive drug temporarily enhances mental and physical function giving the user a high