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New Delhi: Dubai-based fugitive Pawan Thakur, accused of orchestrating one of India’s biggest cocaine trafficking operations, has been detained in the United Arab Emirates and is expected to be deported to India shortly. His arrest is being seen as a breakthrough for Indian agencies attempting to dismantle an international narcotics network that funnelled high-grade cocaine into the country.
Investigators believe Thakur managed the supply chain from abroad and exercised control over key stages of the operation. The consignment at the centre of the case, weighing around eighty two kilograms, was brought into an Indian port before being moved by road to Delhi. It was then stored in a warehouse for further distribution to handlers positioned across several locations.
Officials involved in the inquiry regard the network as one of the most intricate and disciplined drug trafficking systems they have encountered in recent years. They maintain that Thakur directed crucial parts of the syndicate while residing in Dubai and coordinated its functioning with a high degree of precision.
The case prompted the Narcotics Control Bureau to secure Interpol’s first Silver Notice at the request of an Indian agency. Issued in September, the notice was linked to the large seizure made in Delhi in November 2024.
It enabled international authorities to assist in tracing Thakur’s assets and financial gains, which investigators say were tied to the proceeds of narcotics trafficking. The aim was to locate properties, accounts and other resources that were allegedly used to sustain the operation.
Officials believe Thakur supervised the entire chain of movement from the point of entry to the capital and then relied on a wide network of associates to oversee storage and onward distribution. He is thought to have relied on long standing contacts to ensure that the consignment reached Delhi without interruption and that its further movement took place smoothly.
Investigators have also identified a parallel financial network connected to the operation. According to details gathered during the inquiry, Thakur ran a hawala system with centres in Dubai and Delhi. This structure is believed to have been used to move illicit earnings into the formal economy through intermediaries and to conceal profits from law enforcement scrutiny. Officials believe this financial set up played a central role in keeping the syndicate functioning while Thakur remained overseas.
The NCB continues to work with international partners to disrupt organised drug cartels and the financial mechanisms that support them. Authorities expect Thakur’s deportation to open new lines of questioning that may expose additional members of the network and reveal more about its operations.
They are preparing to question him extensively once he arrives in India in an effort to map out every link in the narcotics and money laundering chain.
