Dawood Aide Salim Dola Deported to Delhi
- India brought back alleged drug trafficker Mohammad Salim Dola from Türkiye on April 28, after his detention in Istanbul and transfer to Delhi. - Officials said the Narcotics Control Bureau used “Operation Global-Hunt”; Dola, 59, was taken into custody at Indira Gandhi International Airport. - The case extends India’s cross-border narcotics crackdown and targets a figure linked to Dawood Ibrahim’s network. (indianexpress.com)
Mohammad Salim Dola, an alleged drug trafficker tied by Indian agencies to Dawood Ibrahim’s network, was brought to Delhi from Türkiye on April 28. (indianexpress.com) Indian officials said Dola was detained in Istanbul and flown to India under a Narcotics Control Bureau operation called “Operation Global-Hunt.” He was taken into custody after landing at Indira Gandhi International Airport. (hindustantimes.com) (newindianexpress.com) Dola is 59, according to multiple Indian news reports, and officials described him as a long-wanted figure in international narcotics trafficking. The Indian Express reported he was detained on Sunday in a joint operation involving Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization and local police. (moneycontrol.com) (indianexpress.com) The arrest matters because Indian agencies are treating narcotics cases less as isolated smuggling cases and more as transnational networks with logistics, financing, and overseas shelter. The Home Ministry has been publicly framing drug trafficking as tied to broader security threats, including narco-terror funding. (mha.gov.in) (narcoticsindia.nic.in) Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the deportation showed “zero tolerance” against narcotics syndicates and praised the Narcotics Control Bureau for securing Dola’s return. DD News and other Indian outlets reported that message after Dola landed in Delhi. (ddnews.gov.in) (devdiscourse.com) Officials told Indian media that Dola had been traced in Türkiye in 2024 and that an Interpol Red Notice helped drive the operation that ended with his return. The Economic Times and The Week both reported that sequence. (economictimes.indiatimes.com) (theweek.in) Indian outlets differ on which agency will lead the next phase, with some reports saying Dola was being questioned by intelligence officials and others saying he had been moved to Narcotics Control Bureau custody. Several reports also said Mumbai Police could seek custody in connected cases. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) (hindustantimes.com) (economictimes.indiatimes.com) For now, the confirmed facts are narrower than the rhetoric: Dola was detained in Istanbul, brought to Delhi on April 28, and taken into Indian custody. The legal case now shifts from locating him abroad to proving the charges in India. (indianexpress.com) (newindianexpress.com)
