Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has taken alleged international drug trafficker Salim Ismail Dola into custody and is questioning him in the Sindhrot mephedrone case, in which 87.728 kg of MD drugs valued at an estimated Rs 438.64 crore were seized from an illegal manufacturing unit in Vadodara district in December 2022. The ATS took Dola into custody on October 31 after completing legal procedure following an Interpol Red Corner Notice against him, and detailed the custody at a press conference in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The case dates back to December 1, 2022, when the Gujarat ATS raided an illegal drug manufacturing unit at Sindhrot village in Vadodara district and seized 87.728 kg of mephedrone (MD), estimated to be worth Rs 438.64 crore in the international market. Ten people were arrested in that operation, and an FIR was registered at the ATS police station under Sections 8(C), 22(C) and 29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The ATS case is registered as Case No. III-08/2022.

87.728 kgMephedrone (MD) seized at Sindhrot, Dec 2022
Rs 438.64 croreATS-estimated international market value
10People arrested in the 2022 factory raid
Oct 31, 2026Gujarat ATS took Dola into custody

According to the ATS, the mephedrone manufactured at the Sindhrot unit was allegedly supplied to Aiman Musa Sheikh, alias Ayan Khan, a Mumbai-based associate of Dola, and Dola was named as a wanted accused in the case. The agency alleges that Dola ran a drug trafficking network from abroad; intelligence inputs cited by the ATS indicated that he was living in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on an Indian passport and was using mobile numbers registered in the UAE and Kenya. The ATS has also said Dola was earlier associated with Iqbal Mirchi. All of these are agency allegations, and Dola has not been convicted in the case.

Brought back to India earlier this year

Dola's custody with the Gujarat ATS follows his return to India earlier this year. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) brought him back from Turkiye under Operation Global-Hunt, and he was taken into custody on arrival at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, the Union Home Ministry said at the time. The ministry said Dola, then 59 and from Mumbai, was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued at India's request in March 2024 and was wanted in multiple narcotics cases in Maharashtra and Gujarat. His son, Tahil Salim Dola, was arrested by Mumbai Police in 2025 after being deported from the UAE, according to the ministry.

The ATS said it is now questioning Dola to establish his alleged role in the Sindhrot factory case and to investigate the alleged interstate and international network involved in manufacturing and distributing the narcotics.