In a major breakthrough, Salim Dola, a key drug kingpin and close aide of Dawood Ibrahim, was arrested and deported from Istanbul to India on Tuesday in a coordinated international operation.
Salim had been linked to international drug trafficking, Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company, for many years.
He was arrested under an Interpol red notice. Turkish intelligence and local police had tracked him to a residential hideout in the city’s Beylikduzu district.
He was brought to India on a special flight on Tuesday morning and was handed over to intelligence agencies for further questioning.
He is also likely to be handed over later to the Mumbai police for further investigations.
The 59-year-old had been under the radar of intelligence agencies for around three decades.
Dola had reportedly been operating under a false identity using forged documents to evade the law.
The Turkish police had tracked them after they targeted a transnational synthetic drug trafficking network allegedly linked to the Indian underworld.
Dola reportedly played a major role in managing overseas narcotics operations for D company.
He coordinated the supply and distribution of illegal drugs across multiple countries.
His capture is being considered a major setback to the syndicate’s global drug network.
Authorities are likely to be questioned in connection with several cases related to large-scale drug trafficking and international smuggling.
The deportation also follows multiple other high-profile arrests by Indian agencies against the drug network. Taher Dola, Salim Dola’s son, was extradited from the UAE in June 2025. Salim Mohammed Sohail Shaikh, another key associate, was deported from Dubai and arrested by the Mumbai narcotics cell.
Salim was arrested in Santa Cruz, Mumbai, after 100 kilograms of fentanyl were seized from him. He later escaped to the UAE after being released on bail after four months, since the test samples of fentanyl came out negative.