Drug kingpin Basoya extradited
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has extradited fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), in a major step in India’s fight against narcotics. Basoya, also known as Viru, was wanted in a Rs 13,000-crore drug seizure case investigated by the Delhi Police Special Cell. He arrived in India on an Air India flight and was taken into NCB custody at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. UAE authorities arrested him in June after Interpol issued a Red Notice at the NCB’s request.
Officials said ongoing cooperation between Indian agencies and UAE authorities made Basoya’s return possible.
Reacting on the extradition, Union Minister for Home Affairs, Amit Shah, posted on X: “Modi Govt is relentlessly tracking down drug traffickers hiding abroad and destroying their entire ecosystem with a ruthless approach. Creating a new milestone in the policy of zero tolerance against narcotics, the NCB secured the return of fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya from the UAE. 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.”
Investigators say 50-year-old Basoya, a businessman based in Dubai and originally from Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar, allegedly funded and ran a transnational drug syndicate. In 2024, Delhi Police seized 1,289 kg of cocaine and about 40 kg of hydroponic Thai marijuana. The drugs were reportedly smuggled through pharmaceutical companies in South India and Gujarat, using five real firms and three shell companies, and then sent as medicine packages to Delhi-NCR.
Basoya is also linked to a Rs 6,000-crore mephedrone case in Pune from February 2024, where about 1,837 kg were seized. He left for Dubai soon after the Pune raid and continued running the network from there. He is reportedly a close associate of Sandeep Dhunia, the main accused in the Delhi case, who later escaped to Pakistan. Basoya’s younger son, Rishab Basoya (25), along with Ritik Bajaj, Pramod, and Vikas Rane, were previously declared proclaimed offenders. Authorities are reportedly working on extraditing Rishab. Out of the 19 people named in the Delhi Police chargesheet against the cartel, 14 have already been arrested.
Investigators plan to question him about international supply routes, money laundering, and other local accomplices. Basoya will be produced before a special court in New Delhi as the investigation continues.
