Chemistry PhD holder mastermind in alprazolam racket
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The drug was allegedly supplied to toddy compounds in Telangana and Karnataka.
Following raids on two premises in Ahilyanagar and Satara of Maharashtra, TG Anti Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) officials found that the factories were illegally manufacturing alprazolam without obtaining necessary permission from govt authorities.
Providing crucial technical support to the gang was Amar Singh Deshmukh from Satara district, who holds a PhD in Chemistry from a college in Pune.
"He owns Suryaprabha Pharmachem in Satara. From the outside, it looks like any other factory. He is an expert in improvising the chemical to stage 4 and 5 by sourcing stage-3 chemicals through his contacts," a TGANB official told TOI.
Police have named Prasad Kadere of Umarga Osmanabad as the prime accused in this racket, while the others were identified as Vishwanath from Daund, Choudary Shabbir Ali from Umarga, Parmeshwar Vijay Bardale from Lathur, Swamy Goud from Gulbarga in Karnataka, and M Laxman Goud of Nizamabad district.
It was Deshmukh who, after producing the drug, supplied it to Prasad. The prime accused then handed it over to the two transporters — Ali and Parameshwar. Swamy and Goud received the consignment from transporters and distributed it among known toddy compound owners.
Drug was at stage-5 during raid
"The main challenge for the bureau was to ensure that all the accused — located at different places in Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka — were caught simultaneously along with the drug.
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A coordinated effort from inter-state police was needed so that none of them could escape. The raid was conducted after we got information that the preparation of the drug was in stage 5, which is when it is called alprazolam," an official said.
Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, chemical combination up to stage-3 in the making of alprazolam is not an offence. "If anyone processes the substance to stage-4 and stage-5, it becomes an offence.
We were particular about the seizure of the drug at that stage," another source added.
Although the police seized 100 kg of alprazolam and 338 kg of stage-4 chemical, officials during the questioning of the arrested, found that 100 kg of alprazolam had already been sold.
Youth offered initial lead
After reports of adulterated toddy came to light in April in Kamareddy district, TGANB officials, with the help of district police, conducted awareness camps involving youngsters. They were given sports kits and motivated to share information related to drug abuse. A few days later, while police were probing the adulterated toddy case, some youth offered information, which acted as initial leads that eventually unravelled the inter-state drug racket.
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