The Crime Investigation Branch of Mumbai uncovered a mephedrone (MD) manufacturing unit in Cherlapally following the arrest of a 23-year-old woman in Mumbai’s Mira Road in the first week of August.
The breakthrough came on August 8 when police apprehended Fatima Murad Shaikh, alias Molla, a native of Bangladesh, near Kashimira bus stop on Mira Road. Mumbai police officers seized 178 grams of mephedrone, ₹23.97 lakh in cash, and other valuables from her possession.
A case was booked under multiple provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, as well as the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.
During interrogation, Shaikh revealed that the drug was being sourced from Telangana. In August, a team of 15 officers, including three senior rank officials, arrived in Hyderabad to probe into her lead.
It took them to Navodaya Colony in Cheralapalli, where on September 5 they uncovered the factory illegally manufacturing MD. Sources from the Mumbai police said that the raid was done at Vagdevi Laboratories Pvt Ltd. “We have arrested the owner and a chemical analyst from the firm,” said the officer.
