The menace of synthetic drug abuse has once again cast a shadow over Ahmedabad’s elite educational institutions, with two major drug suppliers, Badshah Khan and Faisal Khan, arrested in a joint operation by the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) and local police.
The arrests took place in the Dariapur area after the interrogation of two previously caught peddlers, Matin Shaikh alias Khalu and Shahnawaz Pathan alias Anda, who were apprehended near IIM Ahmedabad while allegedly delivering a consignment of 55 grams of Mephedrone worth Rs5.5 lakh.
According to a senior SMC official, Matin and Anda were low-level couriers. “They were tasked with delivering the synthetic drug to a third party who acts as the distribution link to student users in prestigious institutions,” the official said.
The police believe the synthetic drug network operates in three layers—suppliers, couriers, and distributors—making it difficult to track the full chain. “Each level knows only a small part of the operation. This fragmentation shields higher-level dealers,” the official added.
Early investigations reveal that Badshah and Faisal sourced Mephedrone from Mumbai and supplied it to a network that caters primarily to students in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The duo has been remanded to five-day police custody by the Additional Chief Metro Court at GheeKanta for further questioning.
Authorities have expressed concern over the growing synthetic drug abuse among students, with a senior investigator calling it “a serious social problem” beyond just criminality.
