Chargesheet filed in first drug case registered in Maharashtra under amended MCOCA

Mumbai, Nov 3 (PTI) The Anti Narcotics Cell of Mumbai police has filed a chargesheet in the first case it had registered against a drug syndicate under the amended Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), an official said on Monday.

The ANC's Bandra unit had arrested three drug traffickers on August 7 for allegedly possessing 766 grams of mephedrone, with a subsequent probe showing that members of the syndicate were involved in seven cases, five of them related to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the official said.

"The probe by senior inspector Vishal Chandanshive found the accused persons were involved in serious cases, which attracts amended MCOCA sections. Accordingly, stringent sections of MCOCA were imposed in the case. A 953-page chargesheet was filed in court against the drug smuggling syndicate on Saturday," he said.

This is the first case in the state under the newly amended MCOCA, the official pointed out.

The Maharashtra legislature had passed a bill for bringing drug peddlers and narcotics crimes under the purview of the stringent anti-organised crime law MCOCA. The amendment makes it tough for drug peddlers to obtain bail after arrest, as per police. PTI DC BNM