EAGLE busts mephedrone drug manufacturing racket

Police uncover mephedrone lab in Hyderabad, tracing operations to online precursor chemical listings and a roadside eatery facade.

A clandestine network involved in the manufacture of synthetic drug mephedrone was busted by the Telangana’s EAGLE Force during a coordinated operation named ‘Operation Bromo B2B’. The investigators said that the network operated covertly while maintaining the appearance of a roadside dhaba on the outskirts of Hyderabad in Shadnagar.

The operation followed the ninth apex level meeting of the Narco Coordination Centre held in New Delhi on January 9, where Telangana was identified as a hotspot for clandestine synthetic drug manufacturing, said Sandeep Shandilya, director of EAGLE.

Acting on intelligence inputs, the officials began examining online listings of precursor chemicals on business-to-business platforms .

During the inquiry, officers traced a dealer identified as 47-year-old Shaik Rafi, proprietor of SR Innovations India in Kukatpally. The investigators said he advertised precursor chemicals including 2-Bromo-4-Methylpropiophenone and 3-Chloro-1-phenyl-1-propanone, which are used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs such as mephedrone and clophedrone.

Shaik Rafi, who holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Pondicherry Central University, confessed to the investigators that he supplied chemical products through his firm after sourcing them from a Mumbai based supplier. The officials said he had listed more than 500 chemical and bio products across multiple online platforms.

During the investigation, the team found that Shaik Rafi had supplied about 300 kg of the precursor chemical 2-Bromo-4-Methylpropiophenone on different occasions to persons using a firm named Bhawani Acids and Chemicals. The consignments were billed to addresses in Karnataka and Delhi but were later diverted.