The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Crackdown on illegal narcotic drug trade; 6 held

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Thursday, Sep 18, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Crackdown on illegal narcotic drug trade; 6 held

Staff Reporter

Hyderabad: In a massive crackdown on illegal narcotic drug trade in Andhra Pradesh officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized huge quantities of Ephedrine, di-Pseudo Ephedrine and Acetic Anhydride after raiding six places in Hyderabad and a bulk drug manufacturing unit in Nellore district. Six persons were arrested under the stringent provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The seized chemicals which have very high demand all over the world, especially in Southeast Asian countries are used for manufacturing ‘dangerous addicting drugs’ like Methamphetamine, Amphetamines and others including Heroin, Arun Tandon, Additional DG of DRI in Chennai said in a press release here on Wednesday. The raids conducted on Monday and Tuesday yielded 800 kg of Ephedrine, 855 kg of Acetic Anhydride and 20,000 kgs of di-Pseudo ephedrine base material, worth over Rs 40 crore in international market.

Mr. Tandon said the raided places included a private drug research lab in Hyderabad, a bulk drug manufacturing unit in Nellore and the arrested persons hailed from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai. Ephedrine, apart from being used for manufacture of the addictive drugs is also used by addicts for the ‘kick’ as well as a sexual performance enhancer. It is also used in very low quantities in certain medicines too. Acetic Anhydride is a different chemical required in the production of Ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine and is also controlled under the NDPS Act, Mr. Tandon explained.

Authorities, however, had not disclosed the names of the arrested persons and the companies that were raided.

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