On October 25, a meth lab operated by a Tihar jail warden, a businessman from Delhi, and a pharmacist from Mumbai was busted in Greater Noida, and 95 kg of drugs were taken away during the operation.
A team from the Delhi Police’s Special Cell and the NCB carried out a raid in Greater Noida after receiving information about a covert laboratory producing synthetic medicines for both local and international consumption.
When it was discovered that members of the Mexican drug gang “Cartel De Jalisco Nueva Generacion” were also engaged in drug manufacture, the raid was carried out.
Along with a variety of precursor chemicals and sophisticated manufacturing equipment, the operation discovered about 95 kg of methamphetamine in both liquid and solid form.
One of the people arrested was a businessman from Delhi who had been arrested by the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for a drug case and was discovered at the scene. He had developed a relationship with the warden of Tihar Jail, who allegedly helped him acquire the supplies and machinery required for drug manufacturing.
The other accused also hired a chemist from Mumbai to supervise the production process, and a Delhi-based cartel member conducted quality inspections.
On October 27, a magistrate heard the case of all four suspects and ordered them to be held in police custody for three days in order to conduct more investigation. An accomplice of the businessman was arrested from Rajouri Garden in a later operation.
The assets and financial trails obtained through this illicit business are being tracked by authorities. Since similar labs were demolished earlier this year in Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, the NCB has drawn attention to the growing habit of setting up covert drug labs in industrial zones to evade discovery by local law enforcement.
The Delhi Police Special Cell recently discovered a large international drug gang and seized drugs valued at an estimated Rs 7,600 crore in two raids that took place in the first week of October.
The operation started with a raid in Mahipalpur, Delhi, when authorities found 40 kilogrammes of marijuana and a record 560 kilogrammes of cocaine from Thailand, valued at over Rs 5,600 crore. Police said that the organisation used road transport from Thailand to transfer the drugs into India via Uttar Pradesh.
In a previous search in Ramesh Nagar, West Delhi, police found 204 kilogrammes of premium cocaine hidden in snack packs. The cocaine is worth Rs 2,000 crore on the global market. According to the authorities, the drugs were a part of a larger cargo that was being prepped for distribution in Mumbai and other states.
The syndicate had connections to overseas suppliers in the UK and the Middle East and used code phrases and encrypted communication.
