MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday searched 20 locations across Maharashtra and Gujarat as part of its money-laundering investigation into the alleged transnational narcotics trafficking syndicate of extradited drug kingpin Salim Ismail Dola.
Investigators said they recovered property-related documents indicating that some assets allegedly procured with the proceeds of crime were located in Dubai.
The searches, conducted in Mumbai, Surat, Ankleshwar and Rajkot, focused on aspects related to illicit financial transactions involved in the syndicate’s narcotics trafficking operations, officials said.
ED teams raided the premises of a few chartered accountants, hawala operators, individuals providing bogus documentation, holders of benami assets linked to the proceeds of crime, and units manufacturing drug precursors involving, at times, restricted chemicals as raw material. The manufacturing units are located in Surat, Ankleshwar and Rajkot, officials said.
During the searches, investigators also questioned a few hawala operators who allegedly claimed to have handled transactions involving Dola. The agency is verifying these transactions, which occurred four to five years ago and included tokens used as identifiers in such operations. A few hawala operators alleged they knew one of Dola’s relatives, who is also under the agency’s scanner.
The operation also covered intermediaries engaged in chemical trading, narcotics traffickers involved in the manufacture and distribution of the synthetic narcotic drug Mephedrone (also known by its street name of MD), officials added.
The central government secured Dola’s extradition from Turkey in April as part of Operation Global Hunt. The 59-year-old is allegedly an aide of wanted gangster Dawood Ibrahim and operated an international drug network, according to ED officials. Dola had a pending Interpol Red Corner Notice against him following a request from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) at the time he was caught in Turkey.
The ED initiated its probe last year under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), based on multiple cases registered across Mumbai against Dola and his associates for alleged offences related to the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Probe findings
The agency’s investigation conducted so far has revealed the existence of a highly organised transnational criminal network engaged in the procurement of precursor chemicals, clandestine manufacture of Mephedrone, and the inter-state transportation and distribution of narcotic drugs, officials said.
The probe also revealed the international trafficking of narcotic substances, the collection and layering of proceeds of crime through hawala channels, and the acquisition of movable and immovable assets in the names of associates and other persons.
Last October, the ED had carried out searches at eight premises in Mumbai. The agency’s search had focused on detecting and tracing the proceeds of crime generated by Dola’s network and by his alleged associates, including one helmed by Faisal Shaikh and his wife.
Shaikh’s network had allegedly purchased 20 kg of Mephedrone through Dola’s network, according to a June 2023 case registered by the NCB’s Mumbai unit. The NCB had subsequently arrested seven accused in the case, including the alleged main trafficker, Shaikh.
Since June 2025, various law enforcement agencies had turned up the heat on Dola and his associates’ networks. Dola’s son, Taher, and his nephew, Kubbawala Mustafa, were deported to Mumbai from the UAE in June and July 2025, respectively. The Mumbai police took the duo into custody as part of their March 2024 probe into the seizure of 126.14 kg of MD, valued at approximately ₹252 crore in the illicit market.
