'Salim Dola planned massive mephedrone scale-up to flood Indian markets'

New Delhi, May 4 The arrest of Dawood Ibrahim’s close aide, Salim Dola, was a major shot in the arm for the Indian intelligence agencies, for not only will his questioning help them unravel his vast network, but also help in controlling the menace of mephedrone smuggling into India.

Over the years, mephedrone, also known as 4-methylmethcathinone, 4-MMC, and 4-methylephedron, has been flooding the Indian markets in huge quantities.

The drug, also known as white magic, meow-meow and bubble, was being produced and smuggled in huge numbers by Dola and his associates. In fact, among the drugs that he smuggled, mephedrone had the biggest consumer market in India.

Officials say that Dola focused on marketing this drug as it is hugely popular among the youngsters in India. It is a highly addictive synthetic drug, and due to its lower cost, it has become a huge draw in India.

A gram of mephedrone costs Rs 160 when compared to the Rs 3,000 per gram that cocaine costs. Dola was planning on increasing the production of this drug.

In India, he largely focused on states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. He was planning on expanding his business to several other states in the months to come, officials also pointed out.

Mephedrone arrived first in India in 2013, and over the years, it has become one of the most popular drugs among the youth. Studies have shown that the consumption of this drug has soared over the years, and hence it has become the favourite narcotic for drug syndicates to smuggle.

Studies also show that in Mumbai, 8 out of 10 drug addicts use this drug.

Another official said that Dola and his associates had planned on pushing this drug into India in much larger quantities. He had already created supply routes to ramp up smuggling this drug into India. His transnational drug syndicate, apart from smuggling mephedrone, also dealt with mandrake, charas and methamphetamine.

The official added that his syndicate spanned across a number of countries in the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The probe so far has found that in India, he was looking to create a network of chemists and pharma dealers in order to supply mephedrone. These links are currently under investigation, and in the days to come, Dola’s India supply chain to supply this drug will become clear, the official also added.

Further, the probe has also revealed that Dola and his associates were planning on ramping up production in India. They were not operating the mephedrone business in a conventional manner and instead chose to operate from poultry farms and roadside dhabas. This syndicate had identified youth to prepare this drug, and the probe has found that many were taught the manufacturing process using the dark web.

The members of this syndicate also changed the manufacturing locations frequently to avoid detection.

If one looks at the data, it is clear that mephedrone smuggling has gone up in India. Between 2025 and 2026, there have been seizures of very large quantities. In January this year, 270 kg of mephedrone valued at Rs 81 crore was seized. Under "Operation Sahyadri Checkmate, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) dismantled a mobile lab that was producing the drug, and 22 kilograms of mephedrone were seized during this operation.

In 2026, the Mumbai police busted a major factory in Telangana that was valued at Rs 12,000 crore. In Rajasthan's Sirohi, the NCB and local police busted a lab in a remote farmhouse that was capable of producing 100 kilograms of this drug.

An Intelligence Bureau official said that the arrest of Dola and his close aides is a big setback for the Dawood Ibrahim drug syndicate. The arrests come at a time when the ISI has been pushing the syndicates to ramp up narcotic smuggling by more than half. The ISI needs the money generated from this trade to fund terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, the official also added.

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