NEW DELHI: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has secured the repatriation of alleged drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya from the United Arab Emirates, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday, describing the development as another milestone in the government’s “zero tolerance” policy against narcotics.
In a post on X, Shah said the Modi government was “relentlessly tracking down” drug traffickers hiding abroad and dismantling their networks. He said Basoya’s return demonstrated that fugitives could not evade Indian law by operating from foreign jurisdictions.
Basoya came under the scanner after his name surfaced during a 2024 investigation into the seizure of 500 grams of Mephedrone, a synthetic stimulant also known as “meow meow”, in Pune. The probe was subsequently expanded to trace the wider trafficking network.
Investigators eventually recovered around 867 kg of Mephedrone from Pune and another 970 kg from Delhi, taking the total seizure to approximately 1,837 kg.
The NCB’s Mumbai unit took over the investigation and identified Basoya as the alleged overseas mastermind of the syndicate.
According to the Home Ministry, he coordinated the network from abroad and was involved in arranging the movement of Mephedrone consignments from India to overseas destinations.
The ministry said the seizure of nearly 970 kg of Mephedrone in Delhi was allegedly linked to preparations for exporting the drug through courier channels associated with Basoya.
His alleged role, it added, connected the domestic manufacturing and trafficking operations with their international distribution network.
Basoya’s name also figured in a separate investigation by the Delhi Police Special Cell into international cocaine trafficking.
In October 2024, the Special Cell dismantled a major cartel following coordinated raids in Delhi, Hapur and Ghaziabad, as well as at a factory in Ankleshwar, Gujarat. More than 1,300 kg of cocaine, Mephedrone and hydroponic weed was recovered during the operations.
According to investigators, the probe into that cartel also pointed to Basoya’s alleged involvement in coordinating the procurement, transportation, storage and distribution of cocaine and other narcotics.
The NCB pursued Basoya under Operation GLOBAL-HUNT, an initiative aimed at locating and bringing back major drug traffickers and fugitives operating from overseas, using international cooperation mechanisms including Interpol Red Notices.
NCB Deputy Director General (Operations) Neeraj Gupta said Basoya fled to Dubai a day after Pune Police registered a case against him in 2024. Describing him as a “big kingpin”, Gupta said an Interpol Red Notice was issued against Basoya in November 2025.
Basoya also faces a 2009 Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) case, in which he had been jailed. Gupta said a charge sheet in that case is presently before the court.
