NDPS Crackdown in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: ₹1.43 Crore Mephedrone Smuggled as Scrap in Sajapur

The Narcotics Control Team (NDPS) seized mephedrone (MD) powder worth ₹1.43 crore being illegally transported in two trucks at the Sajapur village square. The seizure was confirmed after the suspected substance was sent for forensic analysis at a government laboratory. Following the confirmation, an official case was registered against three accused at the MIDC Waluj Police Station, informed Police Inspector Geeta Bagawade of the NDPS unit.

The arrested individuals include truck driver Safiqur Rehman Tafazzul Hussain (resident of Tirath, Uttar Pradesh), Raj Ramtirath Ajure (also from Tirath), and scrap dealer Baban Khan (resident of Sajapur). On Saturday, the NDPS team led by Inspector Geeta Bagawade, Assistant Police Inspector Manoj Shinde, and Sub-Inspector Amol Mhaskey intercepted two Eicher trucks—bearing registration numbers MH 04 BU 5160 and MH 04 EY 9977—near the Sajapur junction.

Upon inspection, they found white powder-like substances and chemical liquids hidden within scrap material in the vehicles. Further intelligence led the team to raid a warehouse in the Sajapur area on Monday, where similar suspicious substances were found concealed within scrap stock. Using a government drug test kit, the seized material tested positive for mephedrone, a banned synthetic drug under the NDPS Act.

In total, the authorities confiscated 2.473 kilograms of MD powder and two Eicher trucks, with the entire seized material valued at ₹1.43 crore. The operation was executed by a team comprising PI Geeta Bagawade, API Manoj Shinde, PSI Amol Mhaskey, and officers including Constable Lalakhan Pathan, Sandeep Dharme, Satish Jadhav, Vijay Tribhuvan, Nitesh Sundarde, Mahesh Ugle, Chhaya Landge, and Shilpa Telore.