In what could be termed as one of the biggest coups, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) on Saturday seized 1.2 tonnes of the Ketamine drug, valued at a whopping Rs18 crores in the international market, from an industrial unit near Jalgaon.
The DRI has also arrested six people, including a Powai-based industrialist, in connection with the seizure.
Under the stringent Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Ketamine is a banned drug and its manufacturing, peddling and possession is illegal.
According to sources in the DRI, based on specific information, a team of DRI officials raided an industrial unit located in Urnala village, near Jalgaon city on the Jalgaon – Aurangabad Road. The raid reportedly led to a seizure of Ketamine weighing over 1,175 kilograms from within the premises of the industrial unit. Five people were arrested from the unit, including the owner of the unit.
Following the raid, a DRI team arrested Vikas Puri from his residence in Powai on Saturday. According to sources, they also recovered Rs1.2 crore in cash from Puri’s residence. It is alleged that the consignment belonged to Puri.
A source from DRI said that Puri is a rank holder in Masters in Technology (M. Tech) in Pharmaceuticals and Fine Chemicals from the prestigious UDCT College in Matunga, Mumbai. Puri reportedly owns two pharmaceuticals and chemicals companies situated in Vikhroli and also has factories in Ratnagiri district.
The DRI has alleged that Puri used to source orders for Ketamine and then would ask the Urnala-based industrial unit owner to manufacture it. All the six people arrested will be produced before the court in Mumbai on Sunday. The DRI will seek their police custody for further interrogations in the case.
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