Mumbai police arrest drug kingpin and 4 aides, seize heroin worth Rs 34 crore
Police have invoked MCOCA against Amjad Yusuf Pathan and four aides after a major heroin seizure in Thane district. The move signals a wider crackdown on an organised interstate drug network with a long criminal record.
Police in Maharashtra have invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act against drug kingpin Amjad Yusuf Pathan and four of his associates in connection with a heroin seizure worth Rs 34.18 crore in Thane district, an official said on Sunday.
Pathan and his aides were formally taken into custody from Thane Central Jail on September 8 after senior police officials approved the application of MCOCA provisions. A court has remanded the accused to police custody till September 17.
Deputy Commissioner of Police Atul Zende said the action arose from a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act registered at Mahatma Phule Chowk police station in Kalyan after police intercepted nearly 9.8 kg of high-grade heroin. During the initial operation, police arrested Pathan along with Kasam Abdul Sattar Vasaikar, Krishna Nagappa Halemani, Ganeshan Puthuswamy alias Buduswamy Jangmar, and Saddam Gafur Shaikh.
Police said 9.768 kg of heroin valued at Rs 34.18 crore was seized from Vasaikar and Halemani, along with mobile phones and cash used for trafficking operations. Subsequent investigation found that Pathan was the mastermind of the network, the official said.
Police said Pathan faces 20 serious cases across Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, including murder, rioting and narcotics trafficking. He was earlier booked under MCOCA in 2020 by Mahatma Phule Chowk police in a murder case and again in 2025 by Kongaon police in a drug smuggling case. According to police, Shaikh is named in eight cases of theft, robbery and drug peddling, Vasaikar faces four narcotics cases, and Halemani and Puthuswamy also have earlier NDPS cases. Police said the proposal to invoke MCOCA was submitted as the group operated as an organised crime syndicate.
The case centres on the seizure of 9.768 kg of heroin in Thane district, after which police arrested Pathan and four associates, invoked MCOCA against them and secured their custody till September 17 as the investigation continues.