Noida: Over the past one year, police have busted three meth labs set up by foreigners inside rented houses in Greater Noida and seized over 100 kg of drugs worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
The latest such raid was conducted on April 17 in which four Nigerian nationals were held and 26.67 kg of methylenedioxyphenethylamine or MDMA worth Rs 100 crore was seized.
Police seized more than 75 kilograms of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, in two separate but linked raids on May 16 and May 30 last year, arresting about a dozen foreigners from residential homes where cooking Appropriate laboratories were established for this.
According to the police, the total value of cooked meth in both these cases was more than Rs 35 crore.
According to police, this seizure could be just the "tip of the iceberg" for an international drug syndicate.In all these incidents, they found that meth was cooked in "pure form" by foreigners working at the lower levels of the syndicate.
An officer involved in the investigation said that the meth was sent to his contact person in Delhi and from there to Europe through channels that are yet to be investigated.
"Using raw material which was provided to them by their contacts in Delhi, the accused cooked the meth in Greater Noida. It was dried inside houses and then shaped into six-inch by one-inch solid bricks and then parceled The officer said, they have networks in Delhi who meet them on need-to-know basis.Of the many police personnel spoken to, at least three agreed that Greater Noida, due to its less dense residential facilities and easy connectivity to Delhi, is an ideal location for manufacturing the drug.
"In all three cases, the houses rented by foreigners were at different locations and had open areas on at least three sides so that the pungent smell emanating from cooking meth would not attract the attention of people living nearby," an official said. " ,
What made Greater Noida an ideal location for the activity was the availability of certain raw materials, which are difficult to obtain from abroad.
For example, the availability of ephedrine, a drug and stimulant which I have banned under the NDPS Act and whose sale is also banned by the government.
Ephedrine, although available for pharmaceutical purposes, comes with a lot of regulation.A police officer said that the price of this drug is Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 per kg, but in the black market its price is Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per kg. It is difficult to buy it in Europe and even when it comes on sale, it will cost Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per kg.
"The profit margin from operations here is more than double. Also, meth is the second most expensive after cocaine and what they cooked in Greater Noida was not for local supply but was to be exported," the official said.
Police are now investigating how the foreigners procured ephedrine locally.During their latest raid, police also found that drug suppliers were using some lesser-known shopping apps to parcel out cooked meth. Their partners, whether in India or abroad, would simply place an order for a product and provide a foreign location as the delivery address.
"Once the meth reached Delhi, it was hidden in the soles of shoes, or creatively hidden inside hair extensions, or neatly hidden inside bales of textile clothes exported in bulk "Tracing the drugs is difficult, although agencies have foiled many such attempts with the use of intelligence and insider networks," he said.According to the police, all the people arrested in all three cases are currently in jail.
The latest such raid was conducted on April 17 in which four Nigerian nationals were held and 26.67 kg of methylenedioxyphenethylamine or MDMA worth Rs 100 crore was seized.
Police seized more than 75 kilograms of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, in two separate but linked raids on May 16 and May 30 last year, arresting about a dozen foreigners from residential homes where cooking Appropriate laboratories were established for this.
According to the police, the total value of cooked meth in both these cases was more than Rs 35 crore.
According to police, this seizure could be just the "tip of the iceberg" for an international drug syndicate.In all these incidents, they found that meth was cooked in "pure form" by foreigners working at the lower levels of the syndicate.
An officer involved in the investigation said that the meth was sent to his contact person in Delhi and from there to Europe through channels that are yet to be investigated.
"Using raw material which was provided to them by their contacts in Delhi, the accused cooked the meth in Greater Noida. It was dried inside houses and then shaped into six-inch by one-inch solid bricks and then parceled The officer said, they have networks in Delhi who meet them on need-to-know basis.Of the many police personnel spoken to, at least three agreed that Greater Noida, due to its less dense residential facilities and easy connectivity to Delhi, is an ideal location for manufacturing the drug.
"In all three cases, the houses rented by foreigners were at different locations and had open areas on at least three sides so that the pungent smell emanating from cooking meth would not attract the attention of people living nearby," an official said. " ,
What made Greater Noida an ideal location for the activity was the availability of certain raw materials, which are difficult to obtain from abroad.
For example, the availability of ephedrine, a drug and stimulant which I have banned under the NDPS Act and whose sale is also banned by the government.
Ephedrine, although available for pharmaceutical purposes, comes with a lot of regulation.A police officer said that the price of this drug is Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 per kg, but in the black market its price is Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh per kg. It is difficult to buy it in Europe and even when it comes on sale, it will cost Rs 8 lakh to Rs 10 lakh per kg.
"The profit margin from operations here is more than double. Also, meth is the second most expensive after cocaine and what they cooked in Greater Noida was not for local supply but was to be exported," the official said.
Police are now investigating how the foreigners procured ephedrine locally.During their latest raid, police also found that drug suppliers were using some lesser-known shopping apps to parcel out cooked meth. Their partners, whether in India or abroad, would simply place an order for a product and provide a foreign location as the delivery address.
"Once the meth reached Delhi, it was hidden in the soles of shoes, or creatively hidden inside hair extensions, or neatly hidden inside bales of textile clothes exported in bulk "Tracing the drugs is difficult, although agencies have foiled many such attempts with the use of intelligence and insider networks," he said.According to the police, all the people arrested in all three cases are currently in jail.
