NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced that India has secured the deportation of alleged international narcotics kingpin Navpreet Singh from Türkiye and has brought him back to the country to face cases related to drug trafficking and other alleged crimes.
Describing the development as a “historic milestone” for the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Home Minister said Indian agencies had tracked down Singh despite him allegedly obtaining Turkish citizenship using a false identity.
The Home Minister said Singh had been operating under the name “Navab Virk” and allegedly continued to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine from Afghanistan into India. “Investigators established his identity before securing his deportation and bringing him back to India. He has been taken into custody in connection with multiple cases,” he said.
Singh, also known as Nav, had emerged as a key suspect in an investigation into an international narcotics syndicate allegedly operating across India, Afghanistan and Türkiye.
"Investigators had identified him as the Turkey-based alleged kingpin of the network, while his cousin, Prabhdeep Singh, was allegedly handling its operations in India," officials said.
The investigation dates back to 2021, when agencies arrested Rizwan Kashmiri in south Delhi. His interrogation allegedly provided investigators with leads about a wider drug-trafficking network involving several states and Afghan nationals, they said.
The probe subsequently resulted in substantial heroin recoveries in Faridabad. Investigators seized 166 kg of heroin from one vehicle and another 115 kg from a second vehicle, according to the officials.
The international dimension of the investigation became clearer as agencies began tracking suspects who had fled India and established links with the syndicate abroad.
In May, Indian agencies secured the extradition of Prabhdeep Singh from Azerbaijan. He was traced to a flat in Baku after an Interpol Red Notice was issued against him. A joint team involving the CBI and Delhi Police brought him back to India with assistance from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Prabhdeep had allegedly fled India in 2023. The CBI, functioning as India’s National Central Bureau for Interpol, used the Bharatpol platform to coordinate with international law-enforcement agencies. Azerbaijani authorities subsequently arrested him, paving the way for India's formal extradition process.
His return was seen by investigators as a significant breakthrough in the probe into the transnational narcotics network.
The deportation of Navpreet Singh from Türkiye now marks another major development in the same investigation. Shah said Indian agencies had succeeded in uncovering Singh’s “true identity” despite his alleged use of a fake identity and Turkish citizenship.
The case highlights the increasing use of international cooperation, Interpol mechanisms and digital coordination platforms by Indian law-enforcement agencies to track down alleged drug traffickers operating from abroad.
With both Navpreet and Prabhdeep Singh now back in India, investigators are expected to further examine the alleged international network, its financial channels, sources of narcotics and links with other suspects involved in trafficking heroin and synthetic drugs into the country.