MUMBAI, Dec. 16 -- The Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mira-Bhayander-Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police crime branch has busted a mephedrone (MD) manufacturing unit operating from a shed behind a poultry farm in Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan, seizing contraband and equipment worth Rs.100 crore. According to the police, 11 persons have been arrested so far, including a suspect believed to be associated with the Dawood Ibrahim gang, for manufacturing and peddling the synthetic drug. MBVV police commissioner Niket Kaushik said that the crime branch police intercepted a vehicle during patrolling on OCtober 4 and held six individuals on suspicion, from whom they recovered 501.6 grams of MD valued at Rs.1 crore, along with eight mobile phones and four motorcycles from their possession. Subsequently, they were arrested and a case was registered against them with the Kashigaon police under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. During the investigation, information provided by the arrested accused led to the arrest of four more persons in Gujarat, who allegedly supplied the drugs to peddlers operating in the Mumbai region. Further leads took the police to Rajasthan, where a team traced the manufacturing unit. On Saturday, the team uncovered an MD manufacturing factory in Jhunjhunu, which had been functioning for the past six months and arrested the wanted accused Anil Vijaypal Sihag. The police recovered around 10 kg of MD, chemicals used in drug production and manufacturing equipment, including flasks, mixers, dryer machines, weighing scales, gloves and filters, from the illegal factory's premises. The police investigation has revealed that the gang had already sold the first batch of MD worth Rs.100 crore to peddlers across the country and was preparing to manufacture another consignment of similar value when the factory was busted. All 11 arrested accused are history-sheeters with long criminal records, Kaushik added. The initially arrested accused have been identified as Mohammed Ansari (six prior cases), Mohasin Shaikh (four prior cases), Jahir Gore (three prior cases), Mohammed Yusuf Ansari (nine prior cases), Mohammed Shaikh (four prior cases), and Mohammed Pariyani, who has six prior cases and is suspected to be a member of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. Police said the accused will be produced before a magistrate's court on Tuesday. "We are now working to identify the mastermind behind the factory and trace the source of funding," Kaushik said....