NCB unearths biggest drug haul in Vadodara, 3 foreigners held

Vadodara, Nov 22 (UNI) The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) today claimed to have busted an international drug trafficking racket with the arrest of three foreigners and seizure of nearly 30 kg of Methamphetamine worth Rs 12 crore from a clandestine laboratory in the city.

The accused included one Xie Jing Feng, a Canadian national of Chinese origin, and his two Malaysian associates -- Ravindran Karpaya and Gunashekharan Pillay, who were arrested near Bharuch toll gate following seizure of 1.50 kg of Methamphetamine from their possession.

Talking to reporters here, Ahmedabad NCB Zonal director Ayush Mani Tiwari said this was the biggest ever seizure of Methamphetamine--a psychotropic substance under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

This illicit contraband is a United Nations listed Controlled Psychotropic substance and known in the illicit drug market as ice, Mr Tiwari said, adding that the price of the contraband in international market is Rs 40 lakh per kg.

Acting on an intelligence report, a joint team of NCB sleuths from Ahmedabad and Mumbai intercepted an Innova car on the Vadodara-Mumbai Highway in the wee hours yesterday and arrested the three foreigners, who were carrying 1.50 kg of Methamphetamine.

Their preliminary interrogation revealed the sources of the illicit contraband, NCB immediately raided one Sakha Organics Private Limited, a chemical factory at Bhadarwa village in Savli taluka of the district.

Mr Tiwari said the raid led to recovery of another 30 litres of Methmphetamine drugs from a full-fledged clandestine laboratory reportedly working in the factory premises since December 2007.

While the three foreigners had been arrested and their vehicle impounded under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985, the factory owner was absconding.

Mr Tiwari claimed that the contraband, manufactued in the illegal lab, was meant for export to different foreign countries through a trafficking chain in Mumbai.

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