Cocaine bust: Kingpin is part of 1,700kg drug shipment 'Meow Meow' case | Latest News Delhi

Following raids, four people were arrested on Tuesday with 562 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic weed, which came from Colombia and entered Goa via Panama and Dubai. Police said the shipments were sent in an old cargo ship by a Dubai-based handler, Virender Basoiya. Police arrested one of Basoiya's suspected associates, Jitender Pal Singh Gill (45), at the Amritsar airport on Thursday.

Police said Gill, who has been living in London for 27 years, allegedly came to India on Basoiya's instructions and was here to ensure that the consignment reached customers in India safely. Police had received a tip-off that Gill was planning to smuggle 100 kg of cocaine into Punjab.

During interrogation, it emerged that Basoiya is also accused in other drug smuggling cases. DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan had earlier said that Pune police had recovered 900 kg of mephedrone from Delhi shops in Kotla Mubarakpur and Hauz Khas areas in February and Basoiya was also a mastermind of the drug bust. The Pune police had come to Delhi in February after seizing 800 kg of the drug from a facility in Pune. The case became known as the “Meow Meow” case and all the drug seized was worth it ₹3,200 crore.

A senior police official told HT, “We were in touch with the Pune police and found that Basoiya and other foreigners are the masterminds.” After interrogation, it emerged that Basoiya is also the leader of this syndicate. When we were investigating the Meow Meow case, he had fled Delhi and is currently believed to be hiding in Dubai.”

Police also suspect that Tushar Goyal (42) – one of the accused arrested this week – may also be involved in the 'Meow Meow' case. “We have found evidence against Goyal that he was in touch with Basoiya for three years and wanted to join the drug syndicate. He not only helped the accused by providing his apartment as a storage space in Delhi but also rented a commercial space in Ghaziabad to help the gang in inter-state drug smuggling. We are checking whether he was also involved in the previous case,” the first officer added.

Basoiya was arrested in 2011. Police said they found records from 2011 showing that both Goyal and Baisoya were in Tihar Jail at the same time. While a narcotics case was booked against Baisoya, a case under the Arms Act was booked against Goyal, police said.

The senior police officer said: “They became friends in prison and were later released. They stayed in touch and when Baisoya wanted to send a huge consignment to India, he contacted Goyal.”