30 April,2026 01:47 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Mohammad Salim Dola. File Pic
Mohammad Salim Dola, a notorious drug trafficker and close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to Mumbai by a team of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday evening.
The accused was seen being escorted from the NCB office for formal procedures, including a medical examination, before being produced before a local court. Authorities consider Dola a key figure in drug trafficking networks linked to the underworld, and his custody is expected to aid further investigation into narcotics operations.
Earlier on Wednesday, Salim was brought to Mumbai by the NCB. Soon after landing at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, he was escorted out of Terminal 2 amid a heavy presence of police personnel and media, and taken to the NCB office in South Mumbai, an official said.
Dola (59) was arrested in Turkiye on the basis of an Interpol Red Notice issued on India's request in March 2024. He was wanted in multiple narcotics trafficking cases in India and had been absconding from law enforcement agencies.
He was brought to Delhi on Tuesday. A court in the national capital granted his two-day transit remand to the NCB to take him to Mumbai.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued an official statement noting that Dola's 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.
Dola was wanted in several cases, including the Rs 252 crore mephedrone seizure case, in which Mumbai Police busted a drug supply ring by raiding a manufacturing unit in Sangli district of western Maharashtra.
Also, a Red Corner Notice was issued against him during the probe into the case.
Earlier, Dola's son, Tahir Salim Dola, along with other syndicate members such as Mustafa Mohammed Kubbawala and Mohammed Salim Mohammed Suhail, alias Lavish Shaikh, were taken into custody by Mumbai Police last year after being deported from the UAE, according to police officials.
Originally from Dongri in South Mumbai, Dola was actively involved in drug manufacturing and supply chains. He is believed to have operated and expanded mephedrone distribution networks across various parts of the country while based abroad, an official said.
In his early days, he was engaged in the catering business, he added.
