In a first-of-its-kind action in Maharashtra, the Mumbai Police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against a drug trafficking syndicate under the provisions of the Act recently amended to cover narcotics-related organised crime, an official said on Wednesday.

The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly had passed the amendment to MCOCA, granting law enforcement the power to tackle organised drug cartels under this stringent law and the provisions now allow law enforcement to treat drug mafias on par with other organised crime groups involved in extortion, contract killings, land grabbing and similar activities.

According to officials, alleged notorious drug trafficker Anwar Daud Kasam and his associates were found running a large-scale drug smuggling operation. Since 2009, multiple cases have been registered against them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, but police found that despite repeated arrests, the group had rebuilt its networks and continued to circulate narcotics through an organised syndicate.

Police sources said the gang primarily dealt in mephedrone and cocaine, with links to suppliers from outside Maharashtra.

The police officials also stated that the syndicate’s activities posed a serious threat to public health and order. With sufficient evidence of its organised nature, the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of the Mumbai police moved to apply the amended MCOCA provisions.

A case has been registered under Sections 3(1)(ii), 3(2), and 3(4) of the Act, provisions that provide for harsher penalties, longer detention, strict bail conditions, and admissibility of intercepted communications as evidence. These powers are expected to help police not only prosecute the accused but also map their financial transactions and dismantle the larger network, said an official.

While MCOCA has previously been invoked in Maharashtra against organised gangs involved in murder, arms smuggling and human trafficking, this marks the first use of its amended provisions against a narcotics syndicate.

In Nagpur earlier this year, police had attempted similar action against a gang dabbling in drugs and arms, but officials said the Mumbai case is the clearest application of the amendment in a narcotics context, the police said.

Source