New Delhi: In July 1998, Mumbai’s enforcement agencies first encountered the name Salim Dola in an intelligence input.
The input was precise. Dola and his associates were allegedly preparing to smuggle a massive consignment of Mandrax tablets out of India. The smugglers planned to use the departure gate of the then Sahara Airport on 29 July.
The alleged plan involved slipping two suitcases packed with Mandrax onto an outbound aircraft. This was to be done by bypassing airport security and customs, allegedly with the help of a senior Air India security officer.
Acting on the tip-off, officers positioned a raiding team near the airport and waited. In the early hours of 29 July, a white Fiat arrived. Inside were two men—one of them Dola. He stepped out of the Fiat, opened the boot, and pulled out two suitcases. Each had an ‘M’ stamped on one side and a ‘swastika’ on the other. They were allegedly filled with Mandrax tablets. Together, they weighed 40 kg.
Dola was arrested, and the drugs seized. But the case still fell apart. In court, the chain of evidence failed to hold.
Dola walked free, but it was only the beginning of a drug empire that expanded rapidly. From a street level peddler, he moved into the production of MDMA, eventually heading factories that manufactured the drug, and capturing the market across Western and Central India.
He rose to become a key production head and later controlled supply networks, according to sources across multiple agencies. Despite being arrested twice, he repeatedly managed to secure bail or evade conviction as cases against him failed to hold.
That cycle repeated for over two decades until his deportation from Turkey to India Wednesday. Wanted in multiple narcotics cases, Dola is now expected to face interrogation that investigators believe could unravel the full extent of his drug network.
The pattern
Over the years, Dola’s name kept resurfacing in one drug investigation after another. The substances allegedly linked to him became increasingly high-profile. First marijuana and meth, and eventually, fentanyl.
According to sources in the security establishment, his close association with gangster Dawood Ibrahim gave impetus to his operations. It helped him expand his network.
“He was heading factories that were producing MDMA in bulk across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. He became a big challenge for the authorities because of his solid network. Securing raw material, setting up of factories, swift distribution was all controlled by him and his network,” a source in Maharashtra said. He has over five cases registered in Mumbai Crime Branch against him.
“His entire network was tracked, one by one and many arrests were made. Last year, his son, Taher, and nephew, Mustafa Mohammad Kubbawala, were deported from the UAE which weakened his network,” the source said.
The source added that he is a big catch, especially after he managed to escape despite being arrested twice.
In 2018, he was arrested again. Authorities allegedly found him in possession of 100 kg of a substance suspected to be fentanyl. Investigators claimed it was intended for export to clients in Mexico for fentanyl production.
Later forensic analysis, however, identified the substance as 1-Phenethyl-4-Piperidone (NPP)—a controlled chemical precursor rather than a psychotropic substance itself. On such grounds, Dola secured bail.
That was effectively the last Mumbai Police saw of him. His bail conditions required him to be present regularly at a police station. But he allegedly used the opportunity to flee to West Asia.
Now, nearly a decade after slipping out of the country, Dola has been brought back from Turkey. It was the Narcotics Control Bureau that got him back, with the help of the Central Bureau of Investigation.
“NCB, in close coordination with international and Indian intelligence agencies, has secured the return of wanted drug trafficker Mohammed Salim Dola from Turkiye, under ‘Operation Global-Hunt’,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.
A red corner notice was issued against Dola in 2024. He was wanted in multiple cases, including at least one each by the NCB, Mumbai Police, and the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad.
“Over the years, Dola had established a major transnational drug trafficking syndicate spanning a number of countries in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. His two-decade-long criminal antecedents include direct involvement in cases involving multiple high-value seizures of Heroin, Charas, Mephedrone, Mandrax and Methamphetamine in Maharashtra and Gujarat,” the MHA statement said.
Earlier in 2025, his son, Tahir Dola, along with several associates, was arrested by Mumbai Police. All of them had been deported from the United Arab Emirates.
The entire operation highlights close coordination and cooperation between authorities in Turkiye, INTERPOL, and Indian agencies.
‘Solid network in India & abroad’
According to security establishment sources, Salim Dola’s role was consistently that of a bulk supplier. He allegedly supplied downstream drug distribution networks in India.
While it is alleged that he dealt in both plant-based and synthetic drugs, a major part of his operations, investigators said, was centred on mephedrone. It is popularly known as the party drug “meow meow”.
A central nervous system stimulant, mephedrone, is known to significantly increase hyperactivity. It is commonly referred to as White Magic and M-Cat. It was classified as a banned substance under the NDPS Act in 2015.
“He was involved in trafficking all kinds of drugs. He has a solid network in India and abroad that he used to move narcotics,” a source said, adding that his interrogation could provide significant insights into the full extent of his network. “After fleeing to the Middle East, he operated there for many years, but had been hiding in Turkey for the last two years.”
Speaking about Dola’s network in Mumbai and Gujarat, a second source said he had remained in constant touch with handlers from the Gulf. Large quantities of contraband were allegedly being moved through ports, often concealed within courier shipments, under his instructions.
‘Charas king’
According to sources in Mumbai Police, before venturing into manufacturing and smuggling mephedrone, Dola reportedly spent several years in the charas trade.
This first came to the police’s notice in July 2013, when Mumbai’s Anti-Narcotics Cell arrested him and two associates, immediately after an alleged delivery of a consignment.
Police claimed he was found in possession of 18 boxes containing charas.
“He became one of the key suppliers of the drug in the Mumbai circuit and had, to an extent, monopolised it,” a source said.
However, Mumbai Police failed to prove the first case against him, and a city court acquitted him in May 2016.
“Dola’s name surfaced repeatedly during the interrogation of arrested peddlers and traffickers in multiple drug busts, whether it was charas, meth, or fentanyl,” the source added.
In one case investigated by the NCB, officials recovered 20 kg of mephedrone. Dola’s name allegedly emerged during the interrogation of the arrested accused.
Around the same time, Mumbai Police uncovered two similar mephedrone recovery cases in the city. Its investigation expanded to include both Dola and his son, Tahir Dola. Tahir, who was wanted in both cases, was extradited in June last year.
‘The slip’
According to a source in the security establishment, Dola has repeatedly slipped away despite several landings in the police net.
Referring to the 2018 case, the source said Dola might never have been able to flee had he not secured bail in the fentanyl case.
“The bail was granted on the condition that he would appear before the investigating officer every Monday for three hours, between 11 am and 2 pm, until the chargesheet was filed, and on the last Monday of each month after the chargesheet was submitted,” the source said.
“He complied with the court’s conditions for five months, but later moved a plea seeking waiver of the bail condition requiring his weekly appearance before police, citing financial hardship and the fact that Mondays were working days at his place of employment,” the source added.
“Strangely, the court modified the condition and directed him to appear before police only on the last Sunday of each month until the case was disposed of,” the source said. “That was effectively the last we saw of him.”
‘Booming drug empire’
Even after Dola managed to flee India, he allegedly continued to run operations using an extensive network spread across multiple states.
“His absence from Indian soil did little to damage his booming drug empire. Instead, it expanded beyond Maharashtra and extended its reach into Gujarat as well,” a second source said.
In November 2022, a Gujarat ATS team raided a factory in Sindhrot, Vadodara, and seized a massive consignment of banned drug mephedrone, along with raw materials, allegedly used for its manufacture.
The ATS arrested five men from Gujarat, including Maulik Pathak, during the probe. Investigators later concluded that Dola was allegedly the mastermind behind the operation. He was running the manufacturing facility and the broader syndicate from abroad, the source said.
“Pathak came in contact with Dola during their time in prison in Mumbai after both were arrested in separate NDPS cases,” the source said.
“During their time in jail, Dola allegedly gave him quick lessons in mephedrone manufacturing and assured him that he could supply raw materials at cheaper rates,” the source added.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)