Who is Salim Dola? Dawood Ibrahim's close associate & drug kingpin deported to India from Turkey
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Who is Salim Dola? Dawood Ibrahim's close associate & drug kingpin deported to India from Turkey")
Dawood Ibrahim's close aid Salim Dola brought to India from Turkey. Photograph: (IANS/X)
Initially, Salim Dola was actively involved in the smuggling of gutkha (tobacco) across Mumbai and Delhi. Later, he shifted his journey into the drug trade and started trafficking marijuana (ganja).
Salim Dola, a close aide of mafia kingpin Dawood Ibrahim, has been deported to India from Istanbul and handed over to the investigative agencies on Tuesday (April 28, 2026). The development unfolded after the intelligence department launched an operation in collaboration with international agencies. He is said to be the key man behind Dawood's drug empire, who is currently facing interrogation by intelligence agencies.
Who is Salim Dola?
Salim was born in 1966 into a middle-class family in the Byculla area of Mumbai. His entry into the city's underworld came at a very young age. He befriended don Chhota Shakeel, then a member of Dawood Ibrahim's D-company. Earlier, he was actively involved in the smuggling of gutkha (tobacco) across Mumbai and Delhi. Later, he shifted his journey into the drug trade and started trafficking marijuana (ganja).
In 2012, he was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau with a consignment of 80 kilograms of marijuana. After spending nearly five years in prison, he was later acquitted by the court. Following his release, Dola came into contact with fugitive drug supplier Kailash Rajput.
It was during this period that he allegedly entered the synthetic drug trade. With Rajput’s support, Dola began producing a synthetic drug known as “Button,” which is reportedly made using dangerous opioids such as Fentanyl and sold in tablet or pill form.
In 2018, the Anti-Narcotics Cell of the Mumbai Police arrested him in Santacruz and seized 100 kilograms of fentanyl. However, he was granted bail within four months after forensic reports stated that the samples tested negative. After securing bail, Dola reportedly fled India and travelled to the United Arab Emirates. There, he is said to have set up a real estate business in the name of his son, Tahir, where funds allegedly generated from his drug operations were invested.
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What is the case?
Dola’s role came into the limelight in 2024 after a Mumbai Police Crime Branch seized a 4 kg MD after tracing the supply chain from Sangli and Surat to the UAE and Turkey, where he reportedly directed operations through associates. He was apprehended on April 25 after the Narcotics Crimes Division of the Istanbul Police Department began a targeted operation to intercept the Indian national. He has been wanted for 'drug trafficking', and was found hiding in a residence in the Beylikduzu district.
After extensive technical and physical surveillance confirmed the suspect's precise location, security agencies carried out an operation at the identified address, where Dola was successfully arrested. He was subsequently processed for deportation to India.
The action in Turkey comes alongside ongoing investigations in India, where associates arrested in Kurla reportedly told CNN Turk that they had been acting on Dola’s instructions. During related raids in India, authorities seized 126 kilograms and 141 grams of mephedrone, along with Rs 25.22 lakh in cash. The Istanbul Police Department has completed the required procedures for the high-profile detainee.
According to an Interpol Red Notice, Dola faces multiple charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, which mandates a minimum 10-year prison term for serious offences and enforces strict bail conditions, particularly in cases involving commercial quantities of drugs. Last year, his son Taher and nephew Mustafa Mohammad Kubbawala were deported from the United Arab Emirates through Interpol, a move officials said had significantly disrupted his network.
