Wanted narco-trafficking kingpin Navpreet Singh deported from Turkey and brought back to India after two years on the run, confirms Union Home Minister Amit Shah (Pictured/ File)Alleged narco-trafficking kingpin Navpreet Singh, wanted in several narcotics cases and on the run for over two years, was deported from Turkey and brought back to India on Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.Announcing the development on ‘X’, Shah said Navpreet, 34, had obtained Turkish citizenship under the fake identity of Navab Virk and continued to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine into India from Afghanistan. “Modi govt has achieved a historic milestone by securing the deportation of hardened narco-trafficking kingpin Navpreet Singh from Türkiye,” he said.“Our agencies tracked him down, ripping apart veil after veil to unmask his true identity, and secured his deportation. Today he has been brought back to India and put behind bars in connection with cases involving drug trafficking and other crimes he is accused of. Congratulations to all the agencies for this success. Modi govt is committed to destroying every narco-cartel before Dec 2029,” he added.Navpreet, 34, also known as ‘Nav’, had been on the run for over two years. A native of Punjab, he is alleged to have headed a sprawling international narcotics syndicate, whose India-based operations were run by his cousin, Prabhdeep Singh.Prabhdeep, also known as ‘Harry’, was extradited from Azerbaijan on May 13 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which was acting in coordination with the Delhi Police Special Cell. He was wanted in a Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act case involving the seizure of 358 kg of heroin in 2021.Investigators traced the supply trail to a seizure in Faridabad, where 166 kg of heroin was recovered from one vehicle and 115 kg from another, along with psychotropic substances stored in a rented hideout. Prabhdeep, who was posted with a paramilitary force at the time, saw his name surface in the investigation and absconded in 2023.DCP (Special Cell) Praveen Tripathi had described Prabhdeep as a key conduit between Navpreet and syndicate operatives in India. He allegedly relayed instructions from Navpreet to two arrested accused, Gurpreet Singh and Gurjot Singh, from whom 333 kg of heroin was recovered during the probe.Story continues below this adIndia submitted its request for Navpreet’s extradition to Turkish authorities in 2023-24, sources familiar with the matter said.The deportation is the latest in a sustained campaign by the Modi government to bring fugitive offenders back to India – an effort Shah has described as intrinsically linked tothe country’s sovereignty, economic stability, law and order, and national security.In January 2025, Shah launched BHARATPOL – a unified platform integrating the CBI, State Police Headquarters (through Interpol Liaison Officers) and District Police Headquarters. More than 1,400 units of state and central agencies are now connected through the portal. Officials say the platform has significantly compressed information-sharing timelines: responses that once took months are now typically received from partner law enforcement agencies within 10 to 20 days, and in some cases within 3 to 10 days.Story continues below this adAccording to the Ministry of Home Affairs, 288 fugitives from 36 countries have been brought back to India between 2019 and August 2026. Over the past three years, Interpol Red Corner Notices have been issued against 401 fugitive criminals – 40 in 2022, 100 in 2023, 107 in 2024, 112 in 2025, and 182 issued through July 2026. Through stringent enforcement of the prevention of money laundering act (PMLA), the Centre has attached assets worth Rs 17,874 crore belonging to fugitive criminals between 2019 and 2026.