IT Correspondent
Mumbai, July 24:
One person was arrested and the poppy husk weighing nearly 8 kgs worth Rs 3.20 lakh was seized by the APMC Police after conducting a raid on a hideout at Kopri Village in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
During routine patrolling DCP Pankaj Dahane and ACP Vinayak Vasta came across a youth who was moving suspiciously. After his search, the police came across a pouch containing the poppy husk weighing about 312 gram. On interrogation, the accused whose name was given as Sunil Balwanta Rambishnoi, directed the police to a hide out.
During the search of the place, the police came across the larger quantity (7 kgs 690 grams) of poppy husk. The drug was seized and a panchnama was carried out. The value of the seized poppy husk was stated to be around Rs 3.20 lakh. The operation was carried out by a team comprising API G Devade, Archana Karkhile, Sanjay Thakur, Vinayak Gaikwad and Archana Pawar.
On 15 July the Mumbai Police had arrested two persons and had seized 2.75 kg Mephedrone worth Rs 1.10 crore from Kurla in Mumbai. The accused Dilshad Abdul Kalam Khan (30), and Imran Kamaluddin Shaikh (25) were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
Similarly in February this year, the 10.5 kilograms of Mephedrone worth around Rs 4.2 crore in the international market , was seized by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police after raiding a factory -Shree Alfa Chemicals located in Dive village of Purandar taluka in Pune district. Two persons were arrested involved in the racket.
ATS Maharashtra has continued the crackdown on drug manufacturers and traffickers as a large number of youngsters in the state have been affected due to the growing addiction of narcotic drugs.
