Why did NCB issue its first Interpol Silver Notice against mastermind behind the ₹2,500 crore Delhi drug smugglig case?

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Thursday had said that it was issuing its first-ever Silver Notice published by Interpol, the international Criminal Police organisation, against a Dubai-based Indian drug trafficker named Pawan Thakur. The media had reported that Thakur was wanted by the federal anti-narcotics agency for a case that was related to the recovery of 82 kilograms of cocaine  worth ₹2,500 crore in Delhi in November 2024.

NCB’s investigation into the case has revealed that Thakur was not just behind the November seizure, NDTV reported in an exclusive. He is alleged to have gone from being a hawala agent in Delhi’s Kucha Mahajani market to having gradually expanded into a large-scale narcotic trafficking operation.

The Silver Notice has be shared with agncies in the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong nad several European countries where Thakur is belived to have invested heavily in real estate and businesses thorugh shell companies and front organisations. 

The operations are believed to span India and Dubai. The black money generated from the drug trade was routed through an elaborate hawala system, possibly consisting of cryptocurrency and cross-border shell companies in India, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UAE.

An Enforcement Directorate probe that ran parallel to the NCB investigation revealed that Thakur’s syndicate laundered over ₹681 crore through fake import-export documentation, crypto transfers, and falsified financial statements.

Thakur had failed to comply with multiple summons from the ED. Delhi’s Patiala House Court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him. After the November seizure, he fled to Dubai with his family. He now operates his smuggling and money laundering from there.

In the November seizure, NCB officials raided a property in Delhi’s Nangloi area and recovered 82 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were concealed in a consignment shipped from Mexico and were intended to be transported to Dubai. Five of his associates were arrested.

Sources say that Thakur owns multiple properties and luxury cars in Dubai, including a villa in the Dubai Hills estate.

The Interpol silver notice, the newest of its colour-coded notices, was launched in 2025 to help authorities trace and recover criminal assets such as financial accounts, properties, and vehicles.

India