During searches of the closed chemical factory, 34 kg of ketamine in powdered form and 12 litres of ketamine in liquid form were seized.
When NCB sleuths along with Barmer Police went into the interiors of village Dholakia, Rajasthan, they never expected to find a lab hidden in a buffalo barn manufacturing synthetic drug mephedrone. “This clandestine facility was installed inside a buffalo barn in the secluded area of village Dholakia,” said NCB in a statement on Sunday.
NCB, Rajasthan Police, and Maharashtra Police started the two-day operation on 22nd July. The anti-narcotics federal probe agency found several precursor chemicals — chloroform, ammonium chloride, propylene chloride, toluene — in a lab. These precursor chemicals are used to manufacture mephedrone.
NCB Jodhpur detained two members of the syndicate, and their questioning revealed that another member of the gang was running a similar “kind of lab” in a “closed factory.” “We identified a resident of the district of Raigad who had brought chemicals and lab equipment to set up the clandestine facility,” said officials.
“The information about this accomplice was immediately shared with the Raigad Police by NCB, following which he was detained by Raigad Police, and during interrogation, it was revealed that he used to work in a closed chemical factory at Mahad, Raigad, which is now closed,” said NCB.
During searches of the closed chemical factory, 34 kg of ketamine in powdered form and 12 litres of ketamine in liquid form were seized.
Several precursor chemicals like chloroform, ammonium chloride, propylene chloride, toluene, bromine, cyclohexanone, etc., were found along with lab equipment. “These shut premises were being used to run the lab clandestinely to manufacture ketamine,” said NCB. Investigation has further revealed the involvement of a mastermind who has been involved in earlier drug trafficking cases of DRI and NCB.
Earlier, too, a clandestine lab manufacturing mephedrone was busted by NCB Jodhpur at Sri Ganganagar in which 5 kg mephedrone drug with precursor chemicals were recovered and accused including physics and chemistry teachers were arrested.