Vasai police arrested four men and seized roughly 2.058 kg of ambergris valued at about Rs 2.06 crore after laying a trap near G.G. College on the evening of August 2, acting on a tip-off that buyers were being sought for the substance, according to Free Press Journal. A case was registered at Vasai police station under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
What was seized, and from whom
The four accused named in the FIR were Anil Sunil Sawant (28) of Golden Nest in Vasai, Mehbub Hussain Qureshi (38) of Bhayandar West, Vishal Santosh Thakare (28) of Malegaon in Nashik district, and a man identified as Ankit alias Krishna Pahadi (28) from Kannad in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district. A separate Hindi-language report from Gallinews corroborates the seizure amount and confirms the material was being brought in from Kerala for sale in Vasai, describing it as part of a coordinated interstate operation. Police say the substance was sourced from Kerala before being routed to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, which is where whale-derived contraband tends to find buyers among perfume and pharmaceutical intermediaries.
That four men from four separate districts — Palghar-Vasai, Nashik, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar — converged on a single transaction is itself notable. It suggests less a local opportunist than a loosely networked supply chain, with sourcing in Kerala, transport through interior Maharashtra towns, and a sale point in the northern Mumbai suburbs.
Why ambergris keeps surfacing in these busts
Ambergris is a waxy substance formed in the digestive tract of sperm whales and prized in high-end perfumery for its fixative properties; a kilogram can fetch upward of Rs 1 crore on the black market. Sperm whales are listed under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which makes possessing or trading any part of the animal, including ambergris, a punishable offence regardless of whether the whale itself was harmed to produce it.
This is not an isolated incident for the region. In September 2024, the Kalyan unit of Thane’s crime branch arrested three people and seized 5.6 kg of ambergris worth Rs 6.2 crore after intercepting a car en route from Pipeline Road to Badlapur, a case also reported by Free Press Journal at the time. Similar busts have recurred periodically across the Mumbai-Thane-Palghar coastal belt in recent years, prompting wildlife experts to flag concerns about whether rising seizure numbers reflect naturally beached ambergris being traded, or a more troubling pattern of deliberate poaching to meet demand.
What it means for residents
For Vasai-Virar and the wider Thane district, the case adds to a running tally of wildlife-crime enforcement along this stretch of coast, an area already dealing with fallout from unrelated civic failures, including last week’s dangerous-buildings crisis in nearby Bhiwandi. It is also a reminder that Maharashtra’s coastal towns function as both source and transit points for wildlife contraband moving toward international perfume and pharmaceutical markets, a trade largely invisible until police intercept a specific deal.
Outlook
Investigators are expected to trace the supply chain back toward Kerala to identify who is collecting the ambergris there and how it reaches Maharashtra buyers, which could determine whether this was a one-off transaction or evidence of an organised interstate racket. Wildlife activists will be watching whether forest or coastal authorities open a parallel probe into possible sperm whale poaching, given how frequently these seizures have recurred along India’s western coast.
Sources: Free Press Journal, Gallinews
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.