Gujarat police arrest man with 3.26 gm mephedrone, hunt on for alleged supplier

AHMEDABAD: Surat’s Puna police arrested 28-year-old Mohammad Rehan Jamil Ahmed Ansari with 3.26 grams of mephedrone (MD) near the New APMC Fruit Market and launched a hunt for his alleged supplier, identified as Nadim.

Acting on a tip-off, police laid a trap near the market after receiving information that a man was travelling on a moped carrying MD drugs from Intercity Creek Bridge towards Anjana Farm. A police team intercepted him on the road and identified him as Rehan, a Surat resident originally from Uttar Pradesh.

Rehan, who runs a snack cart in Surat’s Bhathena area, was subjected to a personal search. Police allegedly recovered a transparent push-lock pouch containing a white-and-yellow powder from his trouser pocket. A search of the moped’s storage compartment led to the recovery of a battery-operated digital weighing scale, mobile phone, Rs 300 cash and an identity card.

A preliminary test using an FSL kit indicated that the substance was mephedrone, commonly known as MD. It weighed 3.26 grams and was valued at around Rs 9,780, police said. The total value of the seized property, including the drugs, moped, mobile phone, weighing scale and other articles, was estimated at Rs 70,180.