Continuing its sustained crackdown on the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has busted another clandestine drug manufacturing facility. The facility was found operating from a residential premises in the Jewar area of Gautam Buddha Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.

On 09/10 Aug 2026, an intelligence-led operation of DRI, resulted in the seizure of approximately 30 kg Amphetamine/intermediary forms, around 30 kg precursor chemicals, to be used for manufacture of drugs, and complete equipment and apparatus used for clandestine manufacture of psychotropic substances.

Various chemicals, equipment and contraband recovered from the premise.

 

Search of the premises revealed a fully equipped clandestine manufacturing set-up, comprising electrical furnaces, hose pipes, scientific and measuring equipment, reagents and other equipment and tools required for manufacture of psychotropic substances. Multiple liquid containers containing various precursor chemicals, raw materials and reagents were also recovered from the premises, along with white-coloured powdery/crystalline substances stored in different containers, whose testing with field kits indicated the presence of amphetamine, a psychotropic substance scheduled under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985.

The recoveries, along with the manufacturing apparatus, amphetamine and chemicals found at the premises, indicate the existence of a clandestine facility being used for illicit manufacture of psychotropic substances in contravention of the provisions of the (NDPS) Act, 1985.  A foreign national and his Indian female associate, who were operating the clandestine facility, were arrested under the provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985.

Preliminary investigation indicated the accused persons would bring manufacturing equipment and raw materials to the premises during night hours, set up and operate the facility for about a week, and thereafter would remove the equipment and clean the premises. The same cycle was reportedly repeated after a gap of two to three months, apparently to avoid suspicion among local residents.

Recent DRI action against clandestine drug manufacturing

The present operation is result of DRI's intensified focus on dismantling clandestine drug manufacturing infrastructure and the networks supporting illicit production and trafficking. In the past one month, DRI has busted three other clandestine manufacturing facilities—a Mephedrone manufacturing facility at Ankleshwar, Gujarat, where Mephedrone and substantial quantities of precursor chemicals were seized and three persons arrested; an Alprazolam and Diazepam manufacturing facility in Satara, Maharashtra, where finished and intermediary psychotropic substances and approximately 400 litres of raw materials were seized and two persons arrested; and a Tramadol manufacturing and export network centred in Ambernath, Maharashtra, linked to an attempted export of 1 lakh Tramadol to Nigeria, resulting in the arrest of three key accused persons.

These successive operations demonstrate DRI's continued focus on identifying and dismantling the entire ecosystem of illicit drug manufacture—from procurement of precursor chemicals and establishment of clandestine laboratories to financing, trafficking, storage and attempted export of narcotics drugs and psychotropic substances. The operations also highlight the increasingly sophisticated methods adopted by drug trafficking networks to conceal manufacturing activities and evade detection.

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SR/KMN

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