Sikkim man arrested in Rs 13,000 crore drug crackdown
Delhi Police’s Special Cell has arrested a 30-year-old man from Sikkim in connection with one of the biggest drug trafficking cases in the country, involving seizures worth nearly Rs 13,000 crore. The arrest is linked to a massive multi-State crackdown carried out in October 2024, during which cocaine and Thai marijuana were recovered from Delhi, Gujarat and Punjab.
The accused, identified as Tilak Prasad Sharma, is the 20th suspect to be arrested in the case. Police said he worked as a carrier for an international drug cartel that smuggled narcotics into India from abroad, mainly through Dubai. Sharma was arrested in Sikkim and brought to Delhi for questioning.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Amit Kaushik said Sharma played a direct role in transporting drugs to the country. “The accused had brought a consignment of around 40 kg of Thai marijuana from Thailand on the instructions of a key supplier. He had travelled to Thailand multiple times and concealed the drugs in his luggage while flying back to India,” the DCP said.
Investigators said Sharma was acting on the directions of Ritik Bajaj, a major supplier in the network, who was arrested recently in Dubai and deported to India. Sharma’s arrest has helped police connect several missing links in the international supply chain of the syndicate.
The case dates back to early October 2024, when the Special Cell launched coordinated raids across multiple States. On October 1, police seized 562 kg of cocaine and nearly 40 kg of Thai marijuana from South Delhi’s Mahipalpur area. Four people, including a key associate of the cartel in Delhi, were arrested at the time. Days later, on October 10, another 208 kg of cocaine was recovered from a shop in Ramesh Nagar in West Delhi. The third major seizure followed on October 13, when Special Cell teams, along with Gujarat Police, recovered 518 kg of cocaine from a pharmaceutical unit in Ankleshwar, Gujarat.
The drugs seized in this raid alone were estimated to be worth over Rs 5,000 crore in the international market.
Police said the cartel had used a complex network of pharmaceutical companies, including shell firms, to move drugs across States. Legitimate-looking consignments were used as cover to transport cocaine and hydroponic Thai marijuana by road from Gujarat to Delhi-NCR. “The drugs were smuggled into India from South America through Dubai. They were then sent to Gujarat to be processed and moved onwards as medical consignments,” a senior officer said. On paper, the consignments were shown as medicines belonging to pharmaceutical service firms, allowing them to pass checkpoints without suspicion.
During the investigation, police arrested several directors and employees of pharmaceutical companies allegedly involved in the operation. This helped investigators piece together how 1,289 kg of cocaine and nearly 40 kg of Thai marijuana were moved across the country.
The syndicate is believed to have been funded by Virender Basoiya, a Dubai-based businessman who remains absconding. His son, Rishabh, is also outside India, and a Red Corner Notice has been issued against him. Police said several other accused have been declared proclaimed offenders.
A chargesheet running into more than 10,000 pages has already been filed before a Delhi court, naming 19 accused. With Sharma’s arrest, police said they are closing in on the remaining fugitives and further probing financial trails, overseas links and local distribution networks tied to the cartel.
