Who Is Salim Dola? Dawood Ibrahim’s Aide And Wanted Drug Lord Detained In Turkey, Video Of Major International Operation Leaked

DAWOOD IBRAHIM AIDE DETAINED: Turkish security authorities arrested Salim Dola, a suspected drug kingpin linked to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, in Istanbul. Local media broke the story, and Indian security agency sources later confirmed it. Salim was on Interpol’s Red Corner Notice list after India’s Central Bureau of Investigation requested it based on cases from Mumbai Police.

He’s believed to have run a widespread synthetic drug trafficking network, setting up secret labs and factories across India and using them to move drugs through multiple countries. Sources say he directed the operation while living in Dubai.

Dawood Ibrahim’s Aide Nabbed in Turkey

Indian officials didn’t hide their relief. One senior Mumbai police officer said catching Salim would seriously damage his drug empire: “If Dola’s been detained, that’s great news and a huge blow to his trafficking network.”

Estimates put his cartel’s drug smuggling racket at over Rs 5,000 crore each year. And that’s just what’s moving across India—no one really knows how much money the entire global syndicate pulls in.

When Interpol detained Salim Dola’s son, Taher Dola

Last year, authorities in the UAE and Interpol teamed up to detain Salim Dola’s son, Taher Dola. He was sent back to India in June 2025. Not long after, police in Dubai deported Salim Mohammed Sohail Shaikh—one of Salim Dola’s close associates—and he was picked up by Mumbai’s Anti-Narcotics Cell for several cases.

Salim Dola and his crew are tangled up in a bunch of cases in India. We’re talking drug smuggling, manufacturing, and plenty of other charges. The Enforcement Directorate is also digging into money-laundering allegations against them.

Who is Salim Dola?

Salim Dola was supposedly close to Dawood Ibrahim and tied to the infamous D-Company. Back in the 1980s and 90s, he got mixed up in things like extortion and smuggling classic organised crime.

People started talking about him more when investigators looked into the 1993 Bombay blasts since a bunch of D-Company guys were involved. Indian authorities eventually arrested him and charged him under anti-terror and organised crime laws. Whenever talk turns to Mumbai’s underworld or its global connections, his name keeps popping up.

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