Pawan Thakur, Dubai-Based Drug Trafficker & Mastermind Of ₹2,500-Crore Narcotics Racket, Arrested; Likely To Be Deported To India Soon

Dubai: Dubai-based Indian drug trafficker Pawan Thakur was reportedly arrested on Tuesday. He will soon be deported to India, claimed media reports. The development came two days after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized meth drugs worth Rs 282 crore in Delhi.

Thakur is also reportedly the mastermind of the Rs 2,500-crore cocaine racket which was unearthed in Delhi in November last year. The consignment was transported to Delhi after it reached a port. It was then stored in a warehouse for distribution, reported NDTV.

In September last year, the NCB published the first Silver Notice against Thakur in connection with the recovery of around 82 kilograms of cocaine in Delhi.

In a statement, the NCB said that the investigations established that Thakur was the mastermind behind the import, export, and trafficking of the seized cocaine. It was alleged that he arranged for the consignment’s import through an Indian port and facilitated its onward movement to Delhi by road.

Thakur started working as a 'hawala' agent in Delhi's Kucha Mahajani market, reported NDTV, citing officials. He then started trafficking drugs.

The NCB investigation revealed that the accused operated a hawala network with bases in Dubai and Delhi, channelling illicit funds and laundering proceeds of narcotics trafficking into the formal financial system through his associates, reported News On Air. The agency had further said that Thakur continued to operate his narcotics trafficking and money-laundering syndicate from Dubai.