Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad has taken alleged international drug trafficker Salim Ismail Dola into custody in connection with the seizure of 87.7kg of mephedrone worth about Rs 438.64 crore from an illegal manufacturing unit in Vadodara district, nearly four years after the case was registered.
Dola was taken into Gujarat ATS custody on October 31, officers said. The Narcotics Control Bureau brought him back from Turkiye in April this year after he was arrested there on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice issued at India’s request in March 2024.
The case relates to a December 1, 2022, seizure from a factory in Sindhrot village in Vadodara district. Gujarat ATS arrested 10 people after uncovering the alleged manufacturing operation. Investigators subsequently found that Dola was allegedly in contact with one of the arrested accused, Soumil Pathak, whom he had met in jail.
According to the ATS investigation, the mephedrone produced at the factory was allegedly supplied to Aiman Musa Sheikh, also known as Ayan Khan, an alleged associate of Dola in Mumbai. The agency has described Dola as a close aide of underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim and accused him of operating a transnational narcotics network. These allegations have not been established in court.
The custody follows an international investigation that led to Interpol proceedings and a Red Corner Notice against Dola. Intelligence inputs cited by the ATS indicated that he was operating the alleged network from outside India and had been living in Dubai on an Indian passport. Investigators also alleged that he used mobile numbers registered in the United Arab Emirates and Kenya.
The ATS plans to question Dola about the source of raw materials, manufacturing arrangements, financial transactions, distribution channels and associates connected with the Sindhrot case. The agency will also examine alleged interstate and international links in the network.
The case illustrates how a narcotics investigation originating in an industrial unit in Gujarat has extended across several jurisdictions and major Indian cities. The alleged supply chain involved manufacturing in Vadodara, links to Mumbai and overseas contacts, while the enforcement response involved state police, the NCB and Interpol cooperation.
Dola’s history in cases cited by investigators stretches back to 1998, when he was arrested at Mumbai airport with around 40kg of mandrax. He was arrested by the Mumbai Anti-Narcotics Cell in 2013 with around 79kg of charas and was named in a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence case in 2017 involving alleged gutka smuggling from Gujarat to Kuwait.
His name also surfaced in a 2018 Mumbai fentanyl case involving a consignment valued at around Rs 1,000 crore. He was booked in an NDPS and forgery case in Ghatkopar in 2022 and was named in cases registered by NCB Mumbai and Mumbai police in 2023 involving mephedrone and other narcotics.
Further cases were registered in 2024 and 2025, including an NDPS and Arms Act case at Kasigaon police station in Thane and cases at Antop Hill, Vasai, Bhopal and Mumbai. The Enforcement Directorate has also initiated a probe during 2025-26 into financial transactions, properties and suspected money laundering linked to the alleged drug network. The Gujarat ATS custody will focus on the Sindhrot seizure and the network’s wider links, officers said.
