Mumbai: Amphetamine mephedrone, the deadly drug, banned in India five months ago, is available freely on the streets of Mumbai, an undercover investigation by CNN-IBN's Radhika Ramaswamy has revealed.
Mephedrone, M-Cat, Meow-Meow are the other names for the drug which had exploded on to the drug circuit of Mumbai around a year ago.
More than 700 kgs of fatal drug worth over a Rs 100 crore has been seized in Mumbai by the ATS, DRI, NCB and the crime branch while 1000 kgs are made in Maharashtra in a single day leading to 1 lakh addicts in Mumbai alone.
Despite the massive crackdown, M-Cat is still being sold like hot cakes, at five times the price.
A peddlar said, "It's genuine stuff. If it's not good I'll return it... no mixing in this stuff. We used to do 20 to 30 grams in a night. Now it is expensive. I am giving it in matchbox under this mobile, don't open it. You just do the stuff, don't bother about where it is manufactured. It comes from Pune, Gujarat etc."
ATS Inspector General Niket Kaushik said, "It is challenging for us as there are five to six layers of the trade. They take precaution at each level. There are several steps in manufacturing."
M-Cat is manufactured not just in isolated labs of industrial units but also in residential buildings. Once the chemicals are procured, at least 1000 kgs of the drug is made in a single day from small facilities and transported.
The drug is manufactured in Satara, Sangli, Jalgaon and parts of Mumbai. The drug is put inside cartons and rice bags and transported to suppliers in Mumbai, Mumbra and Pune through road. The peddlers are consumers themselves that include students, scrap dealers, corporates, film professionals and shockingly, even the police.
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