Overview
- Codenamed Operation White Cauldron, the November 4 raid followed discreet surveillance of a sparsely located unit off State Highway 701 in Valsad.
- Officers seized 9.55 kg of finished Alprazolam, 104.15 kg in semi-processed form, and 431 kg of precursor chemicals, along with industrial reactors, a centrifuge, and refrigeration and heating systems.
- Those arrested include two alleged financiers believed to have masterminded the operation, a factory worker involved in production, and a recipient who had traveled from Telangana.
- Preliminary findings indicate the consignment was headed to Telangana and was reportedly intended to be mixed into toddy.
- DRI notes this is its fourth clandestine drug unit dismantled in 2025, following an August bust in Andhra Pradesh that seized 119.4 kg bound for Telangana.