500kg cocaine bust: One held, LOC against kingpin

Basoiya was earlier arrested in 2011 in a drugs case and sent to Tihar jail. He is also one of the alleged masterminds behind the 1,700kg mephedrone haul from Pune to Delhi earlier this year.

The Delhi Police has issued a look-out circular (LOC) against Virender Basoiya, who is suspected to be in Dubai and is the alleged kingpin of the syndicate that supplied over 500 kilograms of cocaine recovered last week from the national capital in its bigger-ever drug bust, officers aware of the development said on Sunday. Another person was also arrested on Sunday in this connection, taking the number of arrests to six, police said.

500kg cocaine bust: One held, LOC against kingpin

Meanwhile, in another drug raid linked to last Tuesday’s raids in south Delhi’s Mahipalpur, the police have recovered 2 kilogram cocaine from a village in Punjab’s Amritsar, officers said, adding that the recovered amount was only a small part of the 100kg planned to be supplied to the state.

Basoiya was earlier arrested in 2011 in a drugs case and sent to Tihar jail. He is also one of the alleged masterminds behind the 1,700kg mephedrone haul from Pune to Delhi earlier this year.

Two senior police officers said they are taking further legal action in the Delhi case and planning to arrest Basoiya soon. “He is wanted in two big cases. The Pune-Delhi case is the biggest drug seizure in the country while the Mahipalpur case is one of the biggest cocaine seizures. We have issued an LOC against him. We don’t know where he is in Dubai, he could have come back to India and could be hiding. Teams are trying to ascertain his location,” said a third officer, asking not to be named.

Police said that members of his family, who live in London, will also be summoned in connection with the probe.

The officer cited above also said that Basoiya had fled India last year after his son’s wedding. He has a house in Sarojini Nagar. Police said one of his sons is said to be in London, while the other is in India.

On the fresh arrest made on Sunday in the Delhi haul, police said that the man, identified as A Safi, 35, was part of the syndicate and was responsible for “smuggling” the drugs pan-India.

DCP Amit Kaushik (special cell) said that the role of Safi, who whowas held from his hometown near Chennai, came up during the interrogation of the other five arrested accused. Another officer said Safi was majorly involved in taking the drugs, in trucks, from one state to another. “He was in-charge of the transportation and bypassing law enforcement agencies on highways and other roads...” said the officer.

Drugs raid in Amritsar linked to Delhi haul

Police said cocaine was recovered from an Amritsar village on Saturday night on the instance of 45-year-old Jitender Pal Singh Gill, an associate of Basoiya and one of the arrested accused in the 562kg drug recovery in Delhi on Tuesday last week.

A senior police officer told HT, “After the raid in south Delhi on (last) Tuesday and arrests of four men, we found that their Dubai-based handler (Basoiya) had sent Gill to India two weeks back to ensure that the 562kg of cocaine reaches clients…”

Gill, a UK national,was also asked to supply 100kg of cocaine to Punjab.

The officer, who asked not to be named, said, “We questioned him and found he had hid the drugs at a house. Several raids were made in Amritsar and nearby villages for the drugs. On Saturday, we found the drugs at a house and a Fortuner car which was used by Gill to travel from Delhi to Amritsar.” Police said that Gill’s father was in the Indian navy and his family has been living in London for the last 27-29 years.

Another investigator said, “The plan was to smuggle 100kg to Punjab. So, Gill took a small amount to send it to his distributors/local drug handlers. They were then going to make deals with local syndicates and send the drugs in trucks and other vehicles…”

The investigator added that the names of a few clients have popped up during the probe, and arrests in the “sensitive” matter will only be made on the basis of documented proof.