UP’s Greater Noida, a hub of residential and commercial expansion, has surprisingly emerged as a hotspot for drug busts, with the most recent one on April 17 in which four Nigerian nationals were held and 26.67 kg of methylenedioxyphenethylamine (MDMA), worth ₹ 100 crore was seized, according to a media report.
In the last one year, police have busted three meth labs that were set up by foreigners inside rented accommodations in Greater Noida and seized more than 100 kg of drugs worth hundreds of crores, reported news agency PTI.
Police has also recovered over 75 kg of MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, in two separate but linked raids on May 16 and May 30 last year, arresting around a dozen foreigners from residential houses where proper labs were set up for cooking meth, the report said.
The cooked meth in these raids was collectively valued at over ₹ 350 crore, according to police.
These drug dealers have found haven in rented homes and are churning out methamphetamine, popularly known as meth—a substance infamous for its highly addictive and hazardous nature.
According to officials, the raids indicate a larger drug syndicate operating behind these labs in rented flats. Several police sources interviewed by PTI said, that Greater Noida, due to its sparser residential areas and convenient transportation links to Delhi, was considered an optimal location for drug manufacturing.
"In all three cases, the houses rented by the foreigners were in isolated locations with open areas on at least three sides, ensuring that the pungent smell from the meth cooking didn't alert nearby residents," explained an officer while talking to news agency PTI.
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