Udaipur, the city of lakes, recently became the city of drugs when the country’s biggest drug racket was busted in the city. In one of the largest drug hauls by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), 23.5 tonnes of the banned Mandrax tablets had been seized from a factory in Udaipur.
The seized narcotic drug was worth over Rs 3,000 crore and Subash Dudhani, a Bollywood producer was also arrested in this illegal connection.
On October 28, the DRI raided Udaipur-based factory called Marudhar Drinks and detected a room filled with cartons of banned Mandrax tablets. The cartons containing about 2 crore tablets were meant to be exported to Mozambique and South Africa.
This is the biggest ever drug seizure done by the DRI, which is the investigative arm of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). Addressing a press conference, CBEC chairman Najib Shah said ” We have arrested the mastermind and efforts are underway to nab others involved with the drug syndicate.” The mastermind manufactured acetic anhydride, a major ingredient of Mandrax, also imported and locally procured other raw materials.
Mandrax is a depressant drug whose overdose can lead to coma and death. Manufactured in Rajasthan,
this drug is used as a recreational drug in Africa and Asia. It goes by the name M-Pills, buttons or smarties and is smoked with cannabis.
Bollywood producer Subhash Dudhani, who had businesses and properties in Mumbai, was connected with this drug racket. He has produced movies like ‘Don’. After obtaining the information on him, the Mumbai DRI Team conducted the raid with the active assistance from Border Security Force (BSF) who helped them trace the location to a factory in Udaipur.
In the past 5 years, DRI busted various drug rackets by seizing more than 540 kgs of heroin and 7,409 kgs of ephedrine along with other narcotics and psychotropic substances. Recently, they have also neutralized 10 other factories manufacturing synthetic drugs like Mephedrone, Ketamine, Alprazolam and Ephedrine, across several states. But the current seizure is the biggest ever.
