On Wednesday, May 17, Gautam Buddh Nagar Police busted a “Breaking Bad” style meth lab run by nine foreign nationals at a rented house in Greater Noida. Police have seized 46 kg methamphetamine (MDMA) worth Rs 200 crore and arrested the nine foreign nationals who came to India on a student visa and were allegedly operating a drug manufacturing lab here.
The nine foreigners, eight from Nigeria and one from Senegal rented a three-storey house in Greater Noida’s quiet neighborhood of Theta II and transformed it into a highly sophisticated meth-cooking lab, equipped with flasks, beakers, burettes, funnels, and other equipment, for making high-quality meth. Their activities went unnoticed for around a year until the police busted the lab on Wednesday, May 17.
The lab operated from the second storey of the house, mostly producing MDMA, sometimes known as ecstasy, a party drug that is chemically similar to stimulants and hallucinogens that generate feelings of enhanced energy.
Reportedly, when the police arrived at the building, one of the arrested suspects attempted to set fire to the entire unit. The cops, on the other hand, put out the fire even as another suspect jumped from the third floor. However, the police officers on the ground floor apprehended him.
Laxmi Singh, the police commissioner for Gautam Buddh Nagar, stated that after months of intelligence gathering, a tip-off was received on Wednesday, leading to the raids. Singh also called the raids the biggest-ever drug bust in Uttar Pradesh.
“Following the tip, a police officer posed as a drug buyer, and we caught two gang members from the Dhadha roundabout with approximately 5.5kg of meth. They took us to a three-storey house in Jaitpur-Vaispur (in Theta II) where a lab had been set up to manufacture the drug in its purest, white form. From there, seven more people were arrested,” stated Commissioner Singh.
Furthermore, the police revealed that they seized a considerable amount of raw materials capable of producing methamphetamine worth an additional 100 crore.
According to the police, the chemicals recovered include methyl alcohol, hypophosphoric acid, hydrosulfuric acid, iodine crystals, ammonia, ephedrine, acetone, sulphur, and copper salts among others, highlighting the scope of the unlawful activity.
Among the arrested suspects, eight are Nigerians and one is from Senegal. The suspects have been identified as Anudum Emmanuel, Ajoku Ubaka, Daniel Azuh, Levi Uzochukw, Jacob Emefiele, Kofie, Chidi Ijiagwa, Ajoku Klechi (all residents of Nigeria), and Dramemond from Senegal. Police are also probing if the suspects have been residing in India illegally.
