NCB busts clandestine drug manufacturing lab in Mysuru

NCB uncovers a sophisticated drug lab in Mysuru linked to a major trafficking syndicate, seizing drugs worth ₹10 crore.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said it busted a major inter-State drug trafficking syndicate and clandestine drug manufacturing laboratory in Mysuru.

The NCB’s statement, made on January 30, comes amid denials by the Mysuru City Police and Home Minister G. Parameshwara that the search operations carried out at a phenyl manufacturing unit in Hebbal industrial area in Mysuru did not yield any contraband or materials used in the manufacture of narcotic drugs.

However, the NCB said the search on the premises in Mysuru had revealed a “full-fledged clandestine laboratory with sophisticated instruments for manufacture of drugs”.

The NCB has linked the laboratory to the recovery of 35 kg of Mephedrone (MD) from an SUV bearing a Karnataka registration number. The vehicle was intercepted at Palsana in Gujarat’s Surat district on January 28 by its sleuths. The lab has also been linked to the seizure of 1.8 kg of opium, cash amounting to ₹25.6 lakh, and various chemicals from the house of Mahindra Kumar Vishnoi, the alleged mastermind of the drug network, in Dastan Residency, Palsana.

Three persons, including Vishnoi, who were transporting the MD for further distribution in Rajasthan, have been arrested. The NCB said investigations revealed that Vishnoi, who was earlier involved in peddling opium and smack, had conceived the idea of manufacturing synthetic drugs after talking to other inmates while lodged in jail in connection with a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case.

“During his incarceration, he familiarised himself with the processes, market demand, and supply chains of synthetic narcotics, which he later operationalised after coming out of jail on bail by setting up a clandestine manufacturing unit at Mysuru,” the NCB statement said.