New Delhi: Over 9 kg of synthetic opioid, fentanyl, so lethal that it could have potentially killed about 40 to 50 lakh people, was recovered from an illegal laboratory in Indore by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) last week.
The chemical, which can cause large-scale casualties if used in chemical warfare, was seized by the DRI, in a week-long joint operation with a team of scientists from Defence Research & Development Establishment.
According to a report in the Times of India, the laboratory was being run by a local businessman and a “US-hating” PhD “scholar chemist”. The man was arrested last week along with a Mexican national.
The drug Fentanyl, which spreads quickly, is so deadly that a mere two milligrams of it is sufficient to kill a person, experts said.
The case, first-of-its-kind in India, has baffled scientists because manufacturing the drug requires the kind of expertise which is available only to trained scientists. It is a controlled substance used with other medication for anesthesia and pain relief, the TOI reported.
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