The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Sunday busted an alleged illicit mephedrone (MD) manufacturing laboratory operating from the basement of a residential house in Ahmedabad's Sarkhej area, under the agency's newly launched 'Operation Synthetic Drug' in Gujarat, ANI reported.

NCB Zonal Director Ghanasyam Soni said this was the bureau's first major operation in the state, coming just four days after he assumed charge in Gujarat. A quantity of MD was seized from the basement premises, and one individual who had allegedly set up the laboratory was detained, he said.

According to the NCB, the detained individual is himself a consumer of the drug. He also operates a café, which a separate NCB team is investigating, Soni said. The allegations are under investigation and have not been proven in court.

Local reporting on the early-morning raid said the laboratory was functioning from rented premises near Mohammadi Park in Sarkhej and that officials seized chemicals and raw material from the basement. The reports said the alleged unit had been running for about a month.

Preliminary investigation has pointed to inter-state links, with investigators tracing connections to Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, from where the operation allegedly sourced material, officials said. Further investigation is under way.