2,500-Crore Drug Racket Mastermind Arrested In Dubai, To Be Deported

Pawan Thakur, a Dubai-based drug trafficker accused of orchestrating one of the country's biggest cocaine seizures last year, has been arrested. He will soon be deported to India, officials said.

Thakur is believed to be the mastermind of the smuggling of nearly 82 kilograms of high-grade cocaine worth approximately Rs 2,500 crore, intercepted in Delhi in November 2024. According to investigators, the consignment had been routed through an Indian port before being transported by truck to the capital, where it was stored in a warehouse for distribution.

He is also the mastermind behind the meth drugs worth Rs 282 crore seized by the anti-drugs body in Delhi earlier this week, officials said. Investigators also suggest that Thakur was a long-time operator in the 'hawala' and money laundering business.

Officials said that Thakur began working as a 'hawala' agent in Delhi's Kucha Mahajani market. He then gradually expanded the business into large-scale narcotics trafficking, using his financial expertise to conceal illicit earnings. According to officials, the black money generated from the drug trade was routed through an elaborate 'hawala' system, with evidence pointing to the use of cryptocurrency transactions and cross-border shell companies in India, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) had issued an international Silver Notice against Thakur in September - which enables international law enforcement agencies to trace assets, businesses and financial operations linked to the accused across multiple jurisdictions.

Apart from the anti-drugs body's probe, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating Thakur's syndicate laundered over Rs 681 crore through fake import-export documentation, crypto transfers, and falsified financial statements. The probe agency earlier raided Thakur's premises and froze 118 of his mule accounts.

The ED had issued multiple summons to the drug trafficker, but he failed to appear. This prompted Delhi's Patiala House Court to issue a non-bailable warrant against him.

Sources said that after the drug seizure in Delhi last year and the arrest of his five associates, Thakur and his family fled to Dubai - from where he continued to manage his smuggling and money laundering network. He also acquired multiple properties and luxury cars in Dubai, including a villa in the upscale Dubai Hills estate.