New 'international' drug lord emerges in Rs 13,000-crore drug bust probe

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A new drug lord, who is known as Rana Tarandeep by the police, has emerged as the latest person of interest for Delhi Police Special Cell in its probe into the Rs 13,000-crore drug trafficking case.

The probe pertains to a case in which cocaine and Thai marijuana were seized while being smuggled into Delhi by a Dubai-based cartel last October.

Sources in the police said the probe has found that WhatsApp texts exchanged between two accused in the case have shown that a man named Rana Tarandeep was hand-in-glove with Dubai-based drug cartel leader Virender Basoiya alias Veeru in smuggling the cocaine, and was directing it to be refined and processed in Gujarat, according to a report by the Indian Express.

Officers said they are still investigating whether Tarandeep is the man’s real name.

Rs 13,000-crore drug bust case

In the Rs 13,000-crore drug bust case, cocaine and Thai marijuana was seized while being smuggled into Delhi by a Dubai-based cartel last year.

On October 1 last year, 562 kg of cocaine was seized in Mahipalpur in South Delhi, while on October 10, 208 kg of cocaine was seized from a shop in West Delhi’s Ramesh Nagar. The third seizure was made on October 13, when Special Cell sleuths and the Gujarat Police recovered 518 kg of cocaine worth Rs 5,000 crore during a raid at a firm called Aavkar Drugs in Gujarat’s Ankleshwar. Investigation has been ongoing since.

Earlier this week, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested one of the key suppliers from UAE.

According to police officers investigating the case, the accused, Ritik Bajaj (36), has been a constant presence in Delhi and Goa’s rave party circles for much of the past decade. The 36-year-old studied in Delhi before going abroad for college in the United Kingdom and the United States. He later became involved in the nightclub marketing business, dealing with clients across Dubai, the UK, Delhi, Phuket, and Goa.

Police said Ritik was one of the key suppliers of Virender Basoiya aka Veeru, the Dubai-based businessman allegedly funding the cartel’s operation.

Besides Bajaj, 18 people have been arrested in the case so far. As per court records, one of the people arrested in the case – Mayur Desale, a chemist working for Pharma Solutions Services – was in touch with Tarandeep and kept him updated on everything: from the colour of the cocaine mixture to the quantity being prepared.

Police said Tarandeep was also in contact with Amit Kumar Masoriya, another accused who allegedly worked as a middleman by striking deals between Pharma Solutions and Aavkar Drugs for processing the drugs, IE reported.