NCB secures return of ‘drug kingpin’ Virender Singh Basoya from UAE

The NCB secured the return of fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya from the UAE, linked to major drug trafficking cases in India.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday secured the return to India of alleged drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya, a wanted fugitive accused of coordinating an international narcotics trafficking network from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), nearly two years after he fled the country following his name emerging in multiple major drug cases.

His return was secured after sustained coordination between Indian agencies and UAE authorities. (HT)

Basoya, 50, also known as Viru and a resident of Pillanji village near Sarojini Nagar in south Delhi, was taken into custody after arriving at Indira Gandhi International Airport early on Friday, officials said.

According to the government, Basoya was arrested in the UAE in June this year following an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of the NCB. His return was secured after sustained coordination between Indian agencies and UAE authorities.

An NCB officer said Basoya had repeatedly changed locations while in Dubai and was traced with the help of information shared by Indian agencies. His son Rishabh, who also left India later, remains in the UAE, the officer said.

Union home minister Amit Shah welcomed Basoya’s return, saying on X that the government was “relentlessly tracking down drug traffickers hiding abroad” and dismantling their networks. “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 wrote on X.

His name first emerged in a major drug case in February 2024, when investigators probing a Pune-Delhi network involved in the manufacture and distribution of mephedrone – commonly known as “meow meow” – recovered more than 1,800kg of the banned drug. Around 860kg was seized in Pune and another 970kg in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas. Police estimated the value of the seizure at ₹2,500 crore.

According to police, those arrested in the Pune case told investigators that the drugs were being manufactured and sold with the help of a Delhi-based dealer identified as Basoya. The case has since been taken over by the NCB’s Mumbai unit.

Basoya fled Delhi with his wife a day after his name surfaced in the case, according to investigators aware of the case details.

Months later, he was named as the alleged kingpin of an international cocaine trafficking network following one of the largest cocaine seizures in the country. In October 2024, the Delhi Police Special Cell recovered 1,289kg of cocaine in raids spanning Delhi, Hapur, Ghaziabad and Gujarat. Police estimated the value of the seized cocaine at around ₹12,000 crore.

Investigators have alleged that Basoya was responsible for procuring, transporting and distributing cocaine and other narcotics. Police said the drugs originated in South America, including Colombia, and were routed into India through Dubai.

According to the investigation by Delhi Police’s Special Cell, consignments were brought into India at multiple locations and transported to a factory in Ankaleshwar, Gujarat, where the drugs were allegedly refined and processed. They were then transported to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh by road.

The drugs were allegedly moved out of Gujarat disguised as pharmaceutical consignments and shown on paper as being supplied to a company identified as Pharma Solutions Services, which investigators alleged was a shell entity.

The investigation began with a raid at a godown in Mahipalpur in October 2024, where police recovered 560kg of cocaine concealed in bags containing clothing apparel, along with 23 cartons of Thai hydroponic marijuana. Four days later, police raided a shop in Ramesh Nagar and recovered another 200kg of cocaine concealed in packets of namkeen.

Delhi Police subsequently filed a 10,000-page chargesheet in June 2025 naming Basoya, his brother Ravinder, his son Rishabh, and 16 others as accused. Investigators alleged that the family used three shell companies to procure drugs and raw materials from five legitimate pharmaceutical companies in south India and from overseas suppliers.

Investigators alleged that the Basoyas posed as a prosperous Delhi landowning family. “The family posed as a regular family of zamindars in Delhi who owned houses in Pillanji village near Sarojini Nagar and earned rental income. They had also bought properties in Noida and showed that as rental income while the real money was coming from the drug trade,” an NCB officer, who asked not to be identified, said.

At Pilanji Village

News of Basoya’s return surprised residents of Pillanji, many of whom remembered the lavish wedding of his son in February 2024, shortly before Basoya fled the country.

Residents said the family had long been considered well-off, with ancestral property and rental income. A four-storey family house remains in the village, although relatives inside declined to speak to reporters on Friday.

“Almost everyone here is from the Gujjar community and many are related. Basoya’s father owned an ancestral property and the sons used to rent properties to earn money. Almost seven-eight years ago, the father and the elder son died. Virender was taking care of the house,” a resident, who asked not to be identified, said.

Another neighbour said Basoya and his brother Ravinder had expanded from rental properties into contract work, allegedly securing construction contracts for offices and hospitals in Jammu and other states.

Ravinder was arrested in December 2024 in connection with the drug investigation. Residents said the family had maintained that had been framed.

The son’s wedding was one of the last occasions on which villagers recalled seeing Basoya. “It was an extravagant wedding. They planned it for a year. It was in a posh hotel in New Delhi. It was like a festival,” the neighbour said.

A local shop owner said Basoya had left the country soon after the wedding. “They have always been well to do, but in the past seven to 10 years, they became even richer,” he said.