New Delhi: In a major breakthrough, the Narcotics Control Bureau on Tuesday secured the return of notorious drug trafficker Mohammad Salim Dola from Turkiye, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced here.
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 the law enforcement agencies.
Calling it zero tolerance against the Narco syndicate, the Union home minister said on X, “Under Modi government’s mission to ruthlessly smash drug cartels, our anti-narcotics agencies have extended their claws across borders through a robust network of global agencies.”
“Now, no matter where they hide, no place is safe for drug kingpins,” Shah said.
In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs said that Dola was brought from Turkiye, under “Operation Global-Hunt”.
He was taken into custody on his arrival at IGI Airport, New Delhi, early this morning by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), it said.
“The successful return of Salim Dola, under the leadership of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and guidance of Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, reflects the firm resolve of the Government to bring all narcotics fugitives and members of organised crime syndicates to justice, by pursuing them relentlessly across the globe,” the ministry said.
The Interpol Red Notice database states that Dola, born on December 31, 1966, speaks Hindi and Marathi and faces multiple charges under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
A Red Notice is Interpol’s request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.
Over the years, Dola, a close aide of international terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, had allegedly 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 ministry said.
Dola’s role consistently emerged as that of a bulk supplier to downstream distribution networks in India, and it was also sought by ATS Gujarat and the Mumbai police.
Earlier, his son Tahil Salim Dola and other associates were arrested by Mumbai police after deportation/extradition from the UAE in 2025, the ministry said.
This effort exemplifies close cooperation and coordinated action between the authorities in Turkiye, Interpol and Indian agencies, it said.
