Ahmedabad, March 17 The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) arrested two individuals after uncovering a mephedrone manufacturing unit on a farm in Ambedkar Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Wednesday.
The ATS seized 6 kg of mephedrone, 50 kg of liquid mephedrone, and 88 kg of a key ingredient needed to produce the banned substance, they said.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Kapildev Sharma (31) and Ramshankar, alias Pankaj Parshuram (30), both residents of Uttar Pradesh, ATS Superintendent of Police (SP) Sunil Joshi said.
A team of personnel from the Gujarat ATS and Uttar Pradesh police conducted a raid at a suspicious poultry farm on Tuesday.
Officials said the team seized 6 kg of mephedrone, 50 kg of liquid mephedrone, 88 kg of 2-bromo-4-methyl propiophenone, which was recently designated as a controlled substance under the NDPS Act, and 200 kg of raw materials and other chemicals.
Mephedrone, which has a high potential for abuse, is listed as a prohibited psychotropic substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The accused have been remanded in police custody for 12 days, SP Joshi told reporters.
Earlier this month, four individuals, including Shafaat Ahmed, Sohil, alias Bhura Munirbhai Mirza, and Farhan, alias Bhura Faizullakhan Pathan, were arrested for allegedly possessing 4.6 grams of the narcotic substance, a release said.
During interrogation, they told the police that Mirza had received 300 grams of mephedrone from the arrested Uttar Pradesh residents, it added.
