Gujarat ATS takes custody of drug trafficker Salim Dola
The accused was taken into custody in connection with a 2022 Vadodara case involving mephedrone worth Rs 438.64 crore.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) took international drug trafficker Salim Ismail Dola into custody on October 31, according to reports by Times Now, Hindustan Times and The Hindu. Dola was previously deported from Turkiye following an Interpol Red Corner Notice issued at India's request in March 2024.
He is a primary accused in a 2022 investigation involving an illegal mephedrone manufacturing unit in Singhrot village, Vadodara district. During a raid on December 1, 2022, authorities seized 87.728 kg of mephedrone, valued at approximately Rs 438.64 crore in the international market.
Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) SL Chaudhary stated that Dola allegedly supplied the chemicals required for production and was involved in the sale of the finished drugs. Investigators found that the drugs produced at the Singhrot factory were reportedly sent to Mumbai and delivered to Aiman Musa Sheikh, also known as Ayan Khan, who is an associate of Dola.
The ATS noted that Dola had previously worked as a courier for Iqbal Mirchi during the 1990s Mandrax trade. He allegedly operated an international network by hiding narcotics inside containers of legal export goods and using dummy companies in destination countries.
Dola's legal history includes several arrests, such as a 1998 arrest in Mumbai with 40 kg of Mandrax and a 2013 arrest with 79 kg of charas. The ATS will now interrogate him to identify other network members and trace financial transactions and chemical sources.