The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has busted a clandestine drug manufacturing laboratory in Mysuru, Karnataka, and arrested four persons from Rajasthan, seizing narcotics and related materials worth nearly Rs 10 crore, officials said on Friday.
The operation began on January 28 in Surat, Gujarat, where NCB officials intercepted an SUV in the Palsana area and recovered around 35 kg of mephedrone, a banned synthetic drug.
Following the seizure, the NCB arrested the alleged kingpin Mahindra Kumar Vishnoi, along with three accomplices. All four accused are residents of Jalore district in Rajasthan.
Further investigation led officials to a secret drug manufacturing unit operating in the Hebbal industrial area of Mysuru. According to the NCB, the laboratory was camouflaged as a chemical manufacturing unit producing cleaning products and had been rented by a co-accused who is also a relative of Vishnoi.
During the raid, the agency seized drugs worth Rs 10 crore (market value), Rs 25.6 lakh in cash, an SUV, and approximately 500 kg of chemical substances used for manufacturing synthetic narcotics. Officials said the illegal lab is believed to have been set up in 2024.
The NCB described Vishnoi as a habitual offender, stating that he conceived the idea of running covert drug labs while lodged in jail in connection with an earlier drug trafficking case. He has three drug-related cases registered in Rajasthan and one in Gujarat, the agency added.
Further investigation is underway to identify additional links in the drug trafficking network.
