Ahmedabad, November 3, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has taken custody of alleged international drug trafficker Salim Ismail Dola in connection with the seizure of 87.728 kg of mephedrone, worth Rs 438.64 crore in the international market, from an illegal drug factory in Vadodara district in December 2022.
Dola was taken into custody on October 31 following legal procedures after an Interpol Red Corner Notice was issued against him. The ATS is questioning him to establish his alleged role in the Sindhrot drug factory case and investigate the interstate and international network involved.
The case dates back to December 1, 2022, when the ATS raided an illegal manufacturing unit in Sindhrot village and seized the drugs. Ten people were arrested, and an FIR was registered under relevant provisions of the NDPS Act.
Investigators subsequently found that one of the arrested accused, Soumil Pathak, had allegedly come into contact with Dola in jail and was involved with him in the illegal manufacture and sale of narcotics. The mephedrone produced at the unit was allegedly supplied to Mumbai-based associate Aiman Musa Sheikh, alias Ayan Khan. Dola was later named as a wanted accused.
According to the ATS, Dola operated a drug trafficking network from abroad and was suspected to be residing in Dubai using an Indian passport. Intelligence inputs also linked him to the late underworld figure Iqbal Mirchi, for whom he allegedly transported drugs during the 1990s.
Investigating agencies have linked Dola to several drug-related cases over the years, including seizures of Mandrax in 1998 and charas in 2013, a gutkha smuggling case in 2017, and a fentanyl-related case in 2018. His name also surfaced in multiple NDPS and mephedrone cases registered in Mumbai and Gujarat between 2022 and 2025. A 2025 Mumbai Crime Branch case invoked provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The Enforcement Directorate initiated an investigation in 2025-26 into financial transactions, properties and alleged money laundering linked to his suspected drug network.
The Gujarat ATS will question Dola about the source of raw materials used at the Sindhrot factory, financial transactions, other people involved in the operation and the network’s interstate and international connections.
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