EAGLE Force busts suspected drug unit at Maharashtra poultry farm

EAGLE Force says it uncovered a suspected drug manufacturing unit at a poultry farm in Maharashtra during a probe into an alleged inter-State synthetic drug trafficking network. Further arrests have been made as investigators trace the supply of precursor chemicals.

Hyderabad: The EAGLE Force has busted a suspected clandestine drug manufacturing unit at a poultry farm in Maregaon village of Gondia district, Maharashtra, during an investigation into an alleged inter-State synthetic drug trafficking network.

According to Sandeep Shandilya, Director, EAGLE Force, the investigation began on August 8, when Bibi Nagar police intercepted a Toyota Fortuner travelling from Kondamadugu towards Nagpur and seized 27.2 kg of mephedrone and 56.98 kg of acetone. Three persons were apprehended and remanded to judicial custody then.

---

The probe subsequently revealed alleged links to Vetukuri Labs at Kondamadugu and SM Labs at Moula Ali in Hyderabad, besides the suspected unit in Maharashtra. The sleuths raided the place and are examining the procurement and transportation of precursor chemicals, including propionyl chloride.

On Saturday, the EAGLE Force arrested Jairaj Krishna Shetty, owner of JSV Globals in Vasai, Maharashtra, on suspicion of supplying the chemical for illegal drug manufacturing. Saddam Hussain, a native of Assam residing in Nalgonda district, was also arrested.

Penumatsa Rakesh Varma, owner of Vetukuri Labs, is among the persons named in the wider investigation. He was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau in Indore in a separate case in July.