Two more held over Delhi’s ₹5,000-crore cocaine seizure

The accused, identified as Ravinder Basoiya, 44, and Jackson Fernandes, 47, were based respectively in Delhi and Navi Mumbai

The Delhi Police’s special cell arrested two businessmen in connection with Delhi’s largest-ever cocaine seizure valued at more than ₹5,000 crore, police said on Friday.

Since October 1, the special cell has seized more than 1,290kg of cocaine from Delhi and Gujarat. (Representational image)

The accused, identified as Ravinder Basoiya, 44, and Jackson Fernandes, 47, were based respectively in Delhi and Navi Mumbai, and were allegedly managing the drug cartel’s operations in India on the instructions of a Dubai-based kingpin, Basoiya’s elder brother Virender Basoiya, who has not yet been found.

Since October 1, the special cell has seized more than 1,290kg of cocaine from Delhi and Gujarat. All seizures are linked to Virender Basoiya, who along with his associates in the UK, Dubai and India, trafficked drugs on old cargo ships. So far, the cell has arrested 16 people in connection with the case.

Ravinder Basoiya was arrested on Thursday from a hotel in east Delhi. Police said that the Basoiya brothers and their families live near Sarojini Nagar where they own several plots and run several businesses including small gyms and shops. Ravinder was on the run since his brother’s name came up in the news in October, but he returned to Delhi this week to meet his family and was tracked and arrested, said police.

Jackson Fernandes, 47, who is from Goa and lives in Navi Mumbai, was managing at least five shell companies for the cartel and was arrested in Delhi on Wednesday while on the run. For the past year, said police, Fernandes had created shell companies to safely store, refine, smuggle or transport drugs in India.

On October 1, publishing house owner Tushar Goyal and three other men were caught with more than 560kg of cocaine at Goyal’s warehouse in Mahipalpur. Police found that Goyal and Virender Basoiya met in Tihar jail in 2011 and became friends. The drugs were smuggled from South America to Dubai and from Dubai to Goa via old cargo ships.

In India, police said Virender and his brother Ravinder had employed several London-based handlers to “ensure” safety of the consignment, which according to police is worth ₹5,000 crore.

While one of the handlers managed to flee to the UK, another handler, Jatinder Pal Singh Gill, was arrested at the Amritsar airport in October.

A senior police officer said, “The black Fortuner car used by Gill was provided by Ravinder. He was in constant touch with his brother who is in Dubai and the two were managing transportation and storage of the drugs. Gill was apprehended on October 3.”

On October 10, police recovered 208kg cocaine from a shop in Ramesh Nagar based on Gill’s confession. The drugs were packaged in more than 100 namkeen packets. Police said they also arrested transporters and other workers associated with the cartel.

On October 13, police said they found the cartel has links to a Gujarat-based pharmaceuticals company and raided Aavkar Drugs Pvt Ltd factory in Ankleshwar and seized an additional 518kg of cocaine. Police had arrested all three CEOs of the company for colluding with the Basoiyas and providing them space in their factory to store drugs and transport them to different parts of India.

Deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Amit Kaushik said that the Basoiyas had formed a fake pharmaceuticals company, Pharms Solution Services, which was used as a disguise (labels) to transport drugs in trucks.

Fernandes “formed” the fake company Pharms Solution Services to smuggle drugs from Gujarat to Delhi and UP, said police, adding that the space was used to “process” the cocaine. A senior investigator said Fernandes created four-five shell companies to manage the finances of the drug operations/fake pharma businesses.

He said, “Fernandes was in Delhi at the time we arrested Goyal and others in October. However, he was on the run. We were keeping a constant watch on him. When he returned to Delhi, our team caught him.”