DRI busts Rs 55 crore mephedrone factory in Satara, five arrested

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) busted a mobile mephedrone manufacturing unit in Satara district, Maharashtra.
• Officials seized mephedrone and raw materials worth approximately Rs 55 crore during 'Operation Sahyadri Checkmate'.
• The unit, camouflaged as a poultry farm, was a fully operational laboratory for drug production and frequently shifted locations.
• Five persons were arrested, including the manufacturer, financer-consigner, and the poultry farm owner, with two more nabbed in a follow-up operation.
• Four of the arrested individuals have prior arrests under NDPS Act or prosecution under MCOCA.

Why It Matters: DRI dismantled a major mephedrone factory in Satara, seizing drugs worth Rs 55 crore and arresting five individuals.