The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested three people, including a research scientist and his wife, and seized 231 kg of amphetamine worth about Rs 45 crore, as well as Rs 1.23 crore of cash from Hyderabad and Bengaluru. NCB officials are now looking for other members of the inter-state drug module.

Bureau officials told PTI that the research scientist worked at a private chemical firm in Bengaluru. Venkat Rama Rao and Ravi Shankar Rao were arrested on September 30 when the former had gone to Hyderabad to collect 221 kg of amphetamine. The NCB got a tip-off and intercepted the car in which the two were travelling, reported The Times of India.

Venkat Rama Rao's wife Preethi was questioned and taken into custody after officials raided his house in Bengaluru and seized 30 grams of amphetamine along with the cash. Later, 10 kg of amphetamine was seized from a manufacturing lab in Bollaram, Hyderabad, on October 1.

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An NCB official told The Times of India that Rao and Ravi Shankar Rao had leased a chemical reactor at a factory in Bollaram. Although they had told the factory owners that they will manufacture a drug for diarrhoea, they were instead "using the reactor to cook amphetamine," said the official. The duo later admitted to selling the contraband to overseas clients in South East Asian and African countries.

Amphetamine, which is a stimulant and psychotropic substance, was banned under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. It is the parent compound for psychotropic substances like Bupropion, Cathinone, Ecstasy and Methamphetamine.