Hyderabad: In the past one year, security officials busted 11 cases in which psychotropic drugs were being manufactured under the guise of operating chemical factories. A majority of these units were found in Jinnaram, Suraram, Gummadidala, Fasalwadi, and Madunur of the Sangareddy district.
From most of these factories, police seized Alprazolam. Officials have created a database of the accused, as many of those caught turned out to be repeat offenders. Nearly 50 were arrested this year for their alleged involvement in the manufacturing of psychotropic drugs.
In the past few years, 285 manufacturers have been apprehended. Nizamabad police, after arresting a few accused from Maharashtra, revealed that the accused were making huge profits by producing and selling drugs from defunct factory premises. One of the accused, a local politician, allegedly used his influence to illegally run such operations for several years.
On Friday night, Maharashtra police arrested two persons — Srinivas Vijay and Tanaji Rao Patwari — for illegally manufacturing Mephedrone. Police found that they had procured the precursors with the intention of supplying the finished product to those companies that manufacture eye drops.
“Busting an illegal drug manufacturing unit is a highly challenging task. In many cases, we found that improvising the chemicals up to a certain stage is legal. But of company managers, while operating legally, still go on to alter the chemical combinations despite knowing that it falls under a narcotic substance, police need prior information. The real challenge is that manufacturing, packing, and distribution often happen within less than two days. There have been instances where the accused, to destroy evidence, washed down the factories,” EAGLE officials said.
In July, EAGLE sleuths caught two persons, Ajay Kumar from Mumbai and Syed Zaheer from Ranga Reddy district, in possession of 100 grams of Mephedrone. Anji Reddy, who was operating a factory at Gummadidala, was arrested twice last year for his alleged role in the illegal sale of Alprazolam.
