Dawood aide, drug lord Salim Dola detained in Turkey, may be extradited via UAE

Dola was detained in a joint operation carried out by the Turkish national intelligence organisation and local police units, based on Interpol RCN.

Salim Dola, the alleged mastermind behind one of the largest synthetic drug manufacturing and supply cartels operational in India, has been detained in Istanbul, a city in Turkey, officers from the Mumbai police crime branch which is probing a major drugs case with Dola as a key accused told Hindustan Times.

Salim Dola (HT_PRINT)

Dola was detained in a joint operation carried out by the Turkish national intelligence organisation, MIT, and local police units, based on a red corner notice (RCN) issued by the Interpol. The RCN was issued following a request from the Central Investigation Bureau (CBI) as the alleged drug lord was wanted by the Mumbai police.

“Since India does not have an extradition treaty with Turkey and Dola holds a United Arab Emirates (UAE) passport, we will try to get him extradited via the UAE,” a crime branch officer said, requesting anonymity.

Investigators believe that after Dola was granted bail in a drugs case in 2018, he fled to the UAE and started operating the cartel from there. In due course, he obtained a passport in the UAE under a different name and shifted to Turkey, where he was nabbed.

Following the trail

According to sources in the crime branch, Dola grew up in Byculla and entered the drugs trade through members of the Dawood Ibrahim gang. He was arrested thrice before he fled the country – by the NCB for possession of 80 kilo marijuana, by the Mumbai police for possession of 100 kilo fentanyl and by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for trying to smuggle out gutka worth ₹5.5 crore from Pipavav port in Gujarat.

Who is Salim Dola

The crime branch case against Dola commenced with the arrest of alleged drug peddler Parveen Bano Ghulam Shaikh in Kurla in February 2024 with 641 grams of mephedrone or MD. Bano’s interrogation revealed that she used to collect the drugs from a 25-year-old Mira Road resident, Sajid Mohammad Asif Shaikh. Shaikh, in turn, told investigators that he had been appointed by Salim Dola and his son Taher and nephew Mustafa Kubbawala to handle distribution of the party drug.

Investigators traced the factory where the drug was manufactured to Sangli district and raided the premises in March 2024, leading to the recovery of 122 kilos of high-quality MD, cash and gold worth ₹253 crore. Six people were arrested during the raid, including Pravin Shinde, who allegedly helmed operations at the manufacturing unit after honing MD-making skills in Varanasi during the pandemic.

Speaking to reporters, deputy commissioner of police Datta Nalawade had said that their probe had revealed that Dola was the main financier who provided money to set up MD factories besides ensuring supply of the raw material and transportation of ready drugs from the factory to distribution points.

In mid-2025, the crime branch arrested Dola’s son, Taher, 33, and nephew Kubbawala, 44, in the case, after they were extradited from Dubai. Kubbawala allegedly looked after the supply of raw materials to the MD factory from various parts of Gujarat as well as transportation of the ready contraband to the distribution point in Mira Road.