NCB secures return of fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya from UAE: Shah
The Union Home Minister said the move marks a new milestone in the Centre’s zero-tolerance policy, as agencies target drug networks through a three-year national plan
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday (August 14) said the Narcotics Control Bureau has secured the return of fugitive drug kingpin Virender Singh Basoya from the UAE.
"Modi govt is relentlessly tracking down drug traffickers hiding abroad and destroying their entire ecosystem with a ruthless approach," the Home Minister said in a post on X.
He said the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) secured the return of Basoya from the UAE creating a "new milestone" in the policy of zero tolerance against narcotics, "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," he said.
Basoya is accused of being the mastermind of an international drug syndicate.
Centre steps up drug crackdown
In June this year, Shah unveiled the government’s Vision Document on Drug Control (2026-2029) along with the Narcotics Control Bureau Annual Report-2025. The documents were released with a three-year national strategy aimed at dismantling drug trafficking networks.
He said the Centre would take on the entire narcotics ecosystem with such force that “it will not be able to recover for decades.”
More than 40 ministries and departments are involved in the plan, which aims to tackle the narcotics ecosystem through coordinated efforts in enforcement, intelligence, prevention and rehabilitation.
Shah also said the Centre was looking into gaps in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. It is also reviewing the classification of precursor chemicals and psychotropic substances used in the manufacture of drugs.