Rs 40 cr worth drugs seized

Hyderabad, Sep 17 (UNI) In a major 'anti-narcotic drive,' the officials of the Directorate of Revenue Intellengence (DRI) has seized a huge quantity of ephedrine and acetic anhydride, worth over Rs 40 crore in the international market, during a raid on several premises in Hyderabad and Nellore.

According to a release here today, the officials recovered 100 kg ephedrine and five kg acetic anhydride along with Rs 52 lakh in cash from six premises in the city, while 700 kg ephedrine, 850 kg acetic anhydride and about 20,000 kg Di-pseudo-Ephedrine base material were seized at Nellore.

In all, six people hailing from Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai were arrested under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act during the last two days for allegedly indulging in illegal drug production.

The raided premises included one private drug research laboratory in Hyderabad and a bulk drug manufacturing unit at Nellore.

Ephedrine is a precursor for making addictive drugs like Methamphetamine and Amphetamines and also used in small quantities in certain medicines.

Pseudo-ephedrine was another form of ephedrine. Acetic anhydride were in production of ephedrine and pseudo-ephedrine and can also be used to manufacture heroin from opium.

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