MCOCA invoked against 3 in drugs case, first such case after amendment to Act
The Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai police seized 766 grams of mephedrone in a case registered on August 7 under sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.

The Mumbai police invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against three persons allegedly involved in supplying mephedrone on Tuesday— the first such case in the state after the stringent Act was amended to bring drug peddling under the purview of organised crime.
The Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai police seized 766 grams of mephedrone in a case registered on August 7 under sections of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
The main accused, Jamir Ahmed Ansari alias Boka, and his two other accomplices, Kayanat Shaikh and Adnan Shaikh, had formed a gang that supplied narcotics, police said.
While Jamir Ahmed was arrested on August 7, the two others are still at large
In order to take concrete action against him, the police decided to invoke new amended sections of the MCOCA following which a proposal was put up before senior officers as per procedures laid down for the application of the MCOCA.
After the permission was granted, the three accused were booked under sections 3(1)(ii), 3(2) and 3(4) of the MCOCA.
“This action is the first action in Maharashtra against a drug trafficking gang under the amended MCOCA,” an official said.
During the Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Assembly in July when the Act was amended, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had said that he had directed the police to take strict action against drug networks with growing cases of mephedrone production coming to the fore.
Under MCOCA it is difficult to get bail for offenders thereby keeping them under custody of for a few years.