The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday secured the return of notorious drug trafficker Mohammad Salim Dola from Turkey.
The 59-year-old alleged drug lord and close aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim was brought to India after being detained by the Turkish Intelligence Agency and Beylikduzu police on Saturday, following inputs from Indian agencies.
Dola, who was subject to an Interpol Red Notice, landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport early Tuesday morning and was taken into custody for interrogation.
Officials said the CBI facilitated his extradition as multiple agencies, including Mumbai Police and the NCB, wanted him in several pending cases.
According to investigators, Dola had been living in Istanbul’s Beylikduzu district under a false identity. He is accused of operating an international narcotics network linked to D-Company and directing mephedrone manufacturing through clandestine laboratories in Maharashtra and Gujarat.
Authorities said Dola has been active in the narcotics trade for more than three decades.
Mumbai Police had linked him to a 2024 case involving the seizure of around 126 kg of mephedrone in Mumbai, with the supply chain traced from Maharashtra to Turkey and Dubai. His son, Tahir Salim Dola, named in the same case, was extradited from the UAE last year.
An official said, “Dola could be handed to the NCB or the Mumbai police. Both agencies have cases against him. He has been active for more than three decades now. His network’s activities have been under surveillance for the past few months.”
Union home minister Amit Shah praised anti-narcotics agencies for extending their global reach.
Calling it zero tolerance against Narco syndicates, Shah said on X, "Under Modi government's mission to ruthlessly smash drug cartels, our anti-narcotics agencies have extended their claws across borders through a robust network of global agencies."
"Now, no matter where they hide, no place is safe for drug kingpins," Shah said.
In a statement, the ministry of home affairs said that Dola was brought from Turkey, under "Operation Global-Hunt".
"The successful return of Salim Dola reflects the firm resolve of the Government to bring all narcotics fugitives and members of organised crime syndicates to justice, by pursuing them relentlessly across the globe," the ministry said.
Who is Salim Dola?
Salim Dola is a resident of Dongri in Mumbai, the same neighbourhood associated with several organised crime figures, including Dawood Ibrahim. Investigators say he later emerged as a key operator in D-Company’s narcotics network.
According to court records, Dola was first arrested on July 28, 1998, at Mumbai airport while allegedly trying to smuggle Mandrax tablets. In another case in 2017, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence arrested him after seizing nearly 1,00,000 gutka pouches worth over Rs 5 crore meant to be smuggled to Kuwait.
After fleeing India around 2018, agencies believe Dola continued to run a multi-state drug syndicate from the UAE and Turkey through associates based in India.
Investigators allege his syndicate financed mephedrone production, supplied precursor chemicals and operated illegal drug labs across multiple states. He has also been linked to a major fentanyl seizure case.
Dola is expected to be questioned by the NCB before being handed over to Maharashtra and Gujarat authorities, where multiple criminal cases against him remain pending.
