Archive · 14 Aug 2026
Drug kingpin Virender Basoya extradited from UAE, Amit Shah confirms
A man named Virender Singh Basoya led a group that smuggled drugs into India.
He ran away to the UAE, another country, after his son's wedding.
Indian officers, with help from the UAE, caught him and brought him back to face justice.
The illegal drugs his group is linked to are worth about Rs 13,000 crore, which is a huge amount of money.
The group hid the drugs to look like medicines made by fake medicine companies.
Police found big amounts of the drugs in Delhi and in Gujarat.
So far, 14 people in the group have been arrested, but a few more are still on the run.
India's Home Minister, Amit Shah, said the government has a zero-tolerance policy against drugs.
He said drug traffickers cannot escape Indian law no matter where they hide.
Fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya was extradited from the UAE, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah announcing the operation on Friday.
Basoya was wanted in connection with a Rs 13,000-crore drug seizure case investigated by the Delhi Police Special Cell, and was taken into custody by the Narcotics Control Bureau.
The Dubai-based cartel allegedly smuggled 1,289 kg of cocaine and about 40 kg of hydroponic Thai marijuana into Delhi using pharmaceutical firms in South India and Gujarat.
Accounts differ on the haul: one article describes the Ankleshwar seizure as about 518 kg of mephedrone, while the other reports 518 kg of cocaine worth Rs 5,000 crore.
The chargesheet named 19 people, of whom 14 were arrested; Basoya and four others were declared proclaimed offenders, and an Interpol red notice was issued against his son Rishabh.
- Who
- Virender Singh Basoya, a fugitive drug kingpin extradited from the UAE by the Narcotics Control Bureau; Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the development.
- What
- The extradition of Basoya, wanted in a Rs 13,000-crore drug seizure case investigated by the Delhi Police Special Cell, in which his Dubai-based cartel allegedly smuggled cocaine and hydroponic marijuana into India.
- When
- The extradition was announced on Friday; Basoya was arrested in the UAE in June this year, and the major drug seizures occurred in October 2024.
- Where
- Extradition from the United Arab Emirates; seizures took place in Delhi's Mahipalpur and Ramesh Nagar and at Aavkar Drugs in Ankleshwar, Gujarat; drugs arrived from South America via Dubai.
- Why
- To enforce a zero-tolerance policy against narcotics and prove that drug traffickers cannot escape Indian law, according to Amit Shah.
- Extradited accused
- Virender Singh Basoya
- Case value
- Rs 13,000 crore
- Drugs involved
- 1,289 kg cocaine/mephedrone and about 40 kg hydroponic Thai marijuana (article accounts differ on substance types)
- Key seizures
- 562 kg in Mahipalpur (Oct 1, 2024), 208 kg in Ramesh Nagar (Oct 10, 2024), 518 kg at Aavkar Drugs, Ankleshwar (Oct 13, 2024)
- Chargesheet
- 19 people named, 14 arrested, 5 declared proclaimed offenders
- Agencies involved
- NCB handled extradition; Delhi Police Special Cell led the investigation
- Cartel base
- Dubai; drugs brought from South America via Dubai, with links to the UK, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand
- Companies used
- Five legitimate and three shell pharma firms; alleged fake company Pharma Solutions Services
