Mumbai police nab four persons for smuggling mephedrone

The Mumbai polices Anti-Narcotics Cell ANC has busted a drug trafficking racket by apprehending four persons and seizing mephedrone worth over Rs 25 lakh from them, an official said on Wednesday. Based on a tip-off, the Ghatkopar-unit of the ANC laid a trap at Shivaji Nagar area in the eastern suburb of Govandi here and nabbed two of the accused on July 8, the official said.

The Mumbai police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) has busted a drug trafficking racket by apprehending four persons and seizing mephedrone worth over Rs 25 lakh from them, an official said on Wednesday. Based on a tip-off, the Ghatkopar-unit of the ANC laid a trap at Shivaji Nagar area in the eastern suburb of Govandi here and nabbed two of the accused on July 8, the official said. The police seized 170 gm of mephedrone worth Rs 25.50 lakh from the accused, Asif Wadkar (33), a resident of Ratnagiri, and Hareshwar Patil (26), a resident of Pen in Raigad district, he said.

During interrogation, the duo told police that they had procured the contraband from Prashant Balaram Thakur (41) and Darshan Pandurang Patil (31), both residents of Pen, he said.

Accordingly, two teams formed by DCP Datta Nalawade of the ANC were dispatched to Pen, and the two other accused were subsequently arrested, the official said.

A probe has revealed that Thakur had helped manufacture the narcotic substance along with six of his aides at Pejari in Alibag in 2021, he said.

In December 2021, the Navi Mumbai crime branch had raided a place and seized 2.5 kgs of mephedrone, the official added.