In biggest haul, Thane cops seize Rs 2,000cr drugs

THANE: In arguably one of the largest drug hauls in the country, the Thane crime branch has seized 18,627 kg of ephedrine, a medicine abused to make party drug Crystal Meth, worth over Rs 2,000 crore. Five persons have been arrested, including two from the shut unit of a pharmaceutical company in Solapur, which is also linked to the recent seizure of 1,300 kg of raw ephedrine stock in Ahmedabad.
“This is the biggest drug haul in the country. The trade route and other links in the case will be investigated,” claimed Thane police commissioner Param Bir Singh at a press conference on Saturday.
This development comes in the aftermath of an April 14 TOI report on the seizure of Rs 3 crore worth of ephedrine powder in Thane. Three persons, including a Nigerian, were arrested and their arrests led the police to a shut Avon Lifesciences unit in Chincholi MIDC, around 18km from Solapur city. The unit was allegedly usedas a stocking centre for ephedrine.
Medically, ephedrine is used for breathing problems, asthma and nasal swelling/congestion caused by cold or allergies.
Solapur Food & Drug Administration officials went to the Avon unit on Saturday but could not inspect the stock. “The company’s godowns and record rooms are sealed by the Thane police. We will revisit the place on Sunday to verify whether the stock stored there was legal or illegal,” said Bhagyashree Yadav, drug inspector, Solapur Food & Drugs Administration.
The police, too, are verifying whether the stock is legal or illegal, while adding that preliminary investigations showed that the unit did not have a licence to handle the drug from either the Narcotics Control Bureau, the Food & Drugs Administration, excise or other departments.
It was after the TOI report that Ahmedabad crime branch and the Gujarat anti-terrorism squad swung into action and contacted their counterparts in Thane police to confirm whether the ephedrine stock was recently shifted from Solapur to Ahmedabad, allegedly by Kishor Singh Rathod, son of former Congress MLA Bhav Singh Rathod, and four of his aides. All are said to be absconding.
A senior police official said the Gujarat police seized 1,300kg of ephedrine from one Narendra Singh Kacha, which was allegedly transported by Rathod and Jay Mukhi from the Avon unit. The unit is said to have shut down nine months ago following a dispute between the management and the employees, said a police officer privy to the investigation.
The accused reportedly offloaded the raw stock at an industrial unit at the Vahelal area of Ahmedabad, which was allegedly used as the processing centre, on Thursday.
“The 1,300kg of stock found in a company in Ahmedabad was leftover stock from a total of 20,000kg ephedrine as well as pseudoephedrine at the pharma company. A part of it was to be processed,” said a senior police officer.
The finished product, commonly known as Tina, Glass and Ice, was then allegedly to be transported to Goa, and from there it was to be dispatched to various dealers in the country as well as in the international market. Cops suspect involvement of a Polishdrug cartel.
The Thane police chief said it was the arrest of a Nigerian, Okoyo Chinnas (30), the previous Monday for possession of half-a-kg of suspected Mephedrone (MD) powder that proved to be a breakthrough in the case. “A close examination revealed that the catch was not of MD but ephedrine, which is a controlled drug and cannot be possessed or transported or dealt with,” Singh said. The manufacture of a controlled substance like ephedrine without licence is an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Subsequently, seven kgs of the drug collectively seized from alleged peddlers Sagar Powale (28) and Mayur Sukhdare (25) in Thane led to one Dhaneshwar Swami, a pharmacist at Avon. Powale used to reportedly purchase ephedrine stock from Swami.
“A team of Thane police officers (headed by the assistant commissioner of police) came to Solapur in search for one Dhaneshawar Swami, a resident of the Jule Solapur area. We deputed eight local cops to assist them. The teams went to the Chincholi MIDC, where they found a unit that was shut down nine months ago. We are coordinating with the Thane police in the investigation,” said Veeresh Prabhu, district superintendent of Solapur rural.
On grilling, Swami spilled the beans and the cops then raided the 35-acre factory grounds in Solapur where the drug had been stocked. They also arrested the unit’s senior production manager Rajendra Dimri (48).
They went through the stock documents and found certain disparities and missing stock. “The missing stock was dispatched to Narendra Kacha in Gujarat, which the state cops seized,” said a police officer.
From the two rooms of the godown, the police seized a total of 18.5 tonne of ephedrine as well as pseudoephedrine powder stocked separately.
Sources said though the Avon unit is not operational, the company still pays 15-20 employees and few security guards. Swami had access to the unit and was possibly involved in the theft. The company was shut due to a dispute with employees, a police officer privy to the investigation told TOI.
A police officer said that a person named Punit, who owned the unit and is suspected to be involved in the racket, is absconding.
TOI repeatedly tried the phone numbers listed on the two websites of the company—avonorganicsltd.com and avonlifesciences.com—but could not establish contact for their comment.