Bangladeshi woman’s arrest in Mumbai leads police to Telangana drug manufacturing hub

The Crime Investigation Branch of Mumbai uncovered a mephedrone (MD) manufacturing unit in Cherlapally following the arrest of a 23-year-old woman in Mumbai’s Mira Road in the first week of August.

The breakthrough came on August 8 when police apprehended Fatima Murad Shaikh, alias Molla, a native of Bangladesh, near Kashimira bus stop on Mira Road.

Mumbai police officers seized 178 grams of mephedrone, ₹23.97 lakh in cash, and other valuables from her possession.

A case was booked under multiple provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, as well as the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025.

During interrogation, Shaikh revealed that the drug was being sourced from Telangana. In August, a team of 15 officers, including three senior rank officials, arrived in Hyderabad to probe into her lead.

It took them to Navodaya Colony in Cheralapalli, where on September 5 they uncovered the factory illegally manufacturing MD.

“Inside, we found nearly 5.8 kilograms of mephedrone, 35,500 litres of chemicals, 950 kilograms of powder and other materials used in the production of the synthetic drug,” said an officer involved in the probe.

The operation led to the arrest of 12 individuals linked to the racket. Police also seized 27 mobile phones, four vehicles, electronic weighing machines and equipment used in the drug’s manufacture.

The officer said the factory was operating on a large industrial scale with the potential to flood the market with large volumes of the narcotic.

Senior officers, including the Additional Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), supervised the investigation, while Inspector Pramod Badakh and his team led the raids on the ground.