The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) announced on 24 January 2026 that it had dismantled a clandestine, mobile mephedrone manufacturing laboratory in the remote hinterland of the Sahyadri ranges in Satara district, Maharashtra, under a coordinated enforcement action codenamed 'Operation Sahyadri Checkmate'. The makeshift laboratory was operating under the guise of a poultry farm in a remote hilly area of Karad tehsil and had been frequently shifted between locations to evade scrutiny by law-enforcement agencies. In a meticulously planned raid, DRI officers seized a total of 21.912 kilograms of mephedrone (MD) in different forms — 11.848 kg in liquid form, 9.326 kg in semi-liquid form, and 738 grams in crystalline form — along with 71.5 kilograms of raw material capable of producing approximately 15 kg of additional finished Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act-listed contraband. The illicit market value of the seized narcotics is estimated at ₹55 crore. The DRI initially apprehended three individuals — the 'cook' engaged in manufacturing, the financer-consigner bankrolling the syndicate, and the owner of the poultry farm used as cover. In a follow-up late-night surveillance operation near an old octroi toll naka inside a densely forested area, two more suspects were caught en route to collect the final consignment, taking total arrests to five. Four of the five arrested have prior cases registered under the NDPS Act or have been prosecuted under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The operation highlights the growing sophistication of synthetic drug manufacturing networks in the Sahyadri region and reinforces DRI's role as the apex anti-smuggling agency under the Ministry of Finance's Department of Revenue.