Mephedrone, Hashish Seized in 2 busts

Mumbai: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in two separate incidents arrested four persons and seized over 280 bottles of cough syrup, 10 grams of mephedrone, and nearly 50 kilograms of hashish. One of the accused was arrested from Dongri and the remaining three from Mumbra in Thane district. The police that seized hashish from a truck with a J&K number plate suspects that the money from drug deals was being used to fund terror activities in the insurgency-ridden state.

In the first instance, NCB officials raided the house of Shakeel Qureshi alias Shakeel Mota in Dongri. “We seized 281 bottles of Corex cough syrup kept in cartons and also 10 grams of mephedrone. Both substances are banned. We also seized Rs 5.4 lakh in cash from the house,” said a NCB source. Mota’s son Saqlain Qureshi was present and arrested, the source added. According to NCB officials, Saqlain was involved in the smuggling of mephedrone and had been roped in by his father. “We arrested Saqlain but Shakeel managed to escape,” said an officer.

In the second incident, police, during a routine nakabandi, intercepted a truck with the registered number plate of J&K near Mumbra toll naka. “We inspected the truck and found that it had a false cavity. Upon checking, we found 50 kilograms of hash wrapped securely in small plastic bags. The seized hashish is supposed to be worth Rs 2 crore,” said the source.