New Delhi, Aug 14: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has secured the return of fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya from the UAE.
In a post on X, Shah said, “Modi govt is relentlessly tracking down drug traffickers hiding abroad and destroying their entire ecosystem with a ruthless approach.”
The NCB, he said, secured the return of Basoya from the UAE creating a “new milestone” in the policy of zero tolerance against narcotics.
“By tracing the criminal through a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach, our agencies have once again proven that no matter where drug traffickers hide, they cannot escape the long arm of Indian law,” he said.
Basoya’s name had surfaced in a seizure of 500 grams of Mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant commonly known by street name “meow meow”, in Pune in 2024. The probe was later expanded to identify and dismantle the entire drug trafficking network resulting in the recovery of approximately 867 kg of Mephedrone from Pune and 970 kg from Delhi, taking the total recovery to approximately 1,837 kg of Mephedrone.
The NCB Mumbai unit took over investigation and identified Basoya as the alleged mastermind based abroad who coordinated activities of the syndicate from foreign shores and smuggle out Mephedrone consignments from India to other countries.
“A major consignment of approximately 970 kg of Mephedrone, recovered in Delhi, was allegedly linked to preparations for export through courier channels associated with him.
“His role emerged as an important link connecting the domestic manufacturing and trafficking network with its overseas distribution channels,” a statement from the Home Ministry said.
His name also cropped up in a separate case of Delhi Police Special Cell relating to international cocaine trafficking.
“In October 2024, the Special Cell of Delhi Police busted a major drug trafficking cartel, leading to multiple seizures from godowns and other premises in Delhi, Hapur and Ghaziabad, as well as from a factory in Ankleshwar, Gujarat. The coordinated operations resulted in the recovery of more than 1,300 kg of cocaine, Mephedrone and hydroponic weed,” it said.
Investigation into the cartel revealed Basoya’s alleged role in coordinating the procurement, transportation, storage and distribution of cocaine and other drugs, it said.
The NCB launched Operation GLOBAL-HUNT, launched to identify, locate and pursue major narcotics traffickers and fugitives operating from overseas jurisdictions using international cooperation mechanisms, including Interpol Red Notices.
Basoya repatriation from the UAE is one of the key achievements of the operation, it said.
NCB Deputy Director General (operations) Neeraj Gupta told reporters here that Basoya escaped to Dubai just a day after the Pune police registered a case against him in 2014.
Basoya is a “big kingpin” of the drug trafficking network against whom an Interpol Red Notice was issued in November 2025, Gupta added.
He said Basoya also faces a 2009 DRI case in which he had gone to jail and a charge sheet in this case is before the court. ( PTI )
