From smuggling cigarettes to drug cartel boss: Virendra Basoya’s crime files

Fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya, known as Viru, has been extradited from the UAE to India and arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on social media that the Modi government is relentlessly pursuing drug traffickers hiding abroad, implementing a zero-tolerance policy. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) secured Basoya's extradition through a top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top approach, ensuring no drug trafficker can evade Indian law.

Basoya was arrested in India along with his son, Rishab, as part of Operation Global-Hunt. Initially, Basoya was arrested in the UAE on an Interpol Red Notice request from the NCB. He had allegedly started his criminal career by selling smuggled cigarettes from Dubai before moving on to narcotics trafficking with his British accomplice, Sandeep Dhunay.

Basoya's name is linked to several significant drug seizures involving mephedrone, cocaine, and hydroponic weed. In 2024, over a thousand kilograms of cocaine and hydroponic weed were seized in various Indian cities, with Basoya reportedly coordinating the procurement, transportation, and distribution of these drugs.