New Delhi: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) last week busted a synthetic drug cartel allegedly run by a Tihar jail warden who had set up a factory in Noida for the production of methamphetamine and other drugs for export and consumption in India. NCB officials said members of the Mexican drug cartel Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) were involved.
The police seized around 95 kg of methamphetamine in solid and liquid forms from the factory, situated in the Kasna industrial area of Noida. A preliminary enquiry revealed that a Delhi-based businessman who was found in the factory at the time of the raid along with a Tihar jail warden were instrumental in establishing the illegal factory, procuring chemicals required for manufacturing of Methamphetamine from various sources and importing the machinery, an NCB source said.
The businessman had previously been arrested by Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in an NDPS case and had been lodged in Tihar jail where he came in contact with the jail warden who became his accomplice, the source added.
The bust comes in the backdrop of massive drug hauls in the recent past with the central anti-narcotics agency recovering about 907 kg of mephedrone earlier this month from Bhopal.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police — which joined the NCB team in the raid in Noida — had earlier this month busted an international drug cartel, seizing 562 kg of cocaine worth more than Rs 2,000 crore from a godown in South West Delhi’s Mahipalpur Extension.
Last Friday, the agency arrested four people, including the owner of the factory, the Tihar warden and a Mumbai-based chemist for manufacturing synthetic drugs. The fourth accused arrested from Delhi’s Rajouri Garden is a close aide of the prime accused factory owner.
Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación
Considered a young cartel founded by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho, the CJNG is one of the most powerful and violent cartels with assets in excess of US 20 billion. America’s Drug Enforcement Administration has announced its largest reward ever of USD 10 million for information about Cervantes.
The CJNG burst onto the scene in 2011 after carrying out killings of 35 alleged members of Los Zetas drug syndicate in Veracruz city, Mexico.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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