An alleged synthetic narcotics producer facing an Interpol Red Notice was deported to India from the UAE on Friday in an operation coordinated by the Central Bureau of Investigation through the Interpol and the Mumbai police, following which he was arrested in the country's financial capital, officials said.
Kubbawala Mustafa, wanted in the case related to the seizure of Rs 252 crore worth of mephedrone from a factory in Maharashtra's Sangli, was brought from the UAE to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at around 1 am, an official said.
In the Sangli factory bust carried out by Mumbai Crime Branch, 126.141 kg of mephedrone, a party drug also known as ‘meow meow', was recovered and confiscated.
Kubbawala (44), is the nephew of the Salim Dola, the main accused in the case, and was involved in mephedrone manufacturing as well as helming the supply and distribution chain, he added.
Kubbawala was operating the mephedrone manufacturing syndicate along with his cousin Taher Salim Dola from abroad, the official said. Taher Dola was arrested by Mumbai police on his deportation from UAE on June 13, he added.
Kubbawala is a resident of Surat in neighbouring Gujarat and had completed his education from Mumbai before teaming up with his uncle Salim Dola, the official said.
Kubbawala was a key material and chemical supplier for manufacturing high-quality mephedrone, and allegedly use to get raw materials for the purpose from Ahmedabad, the official said.
He was also supplying the contraband to members of his syndicate in Gujarat, the Mumbai police official informed.
Money generated from the mephedrone business was routed abroad through hawala, the official said, adding that an 'angadia' (traditional courier) was arrested earlier.
Kubbawala was taken into custody by the Mumbai Crime Branch at the airport, the official said.
"We were tracking these persons for the last one year. Their arrest is a message to all others involved that Mumbai police will bring them to India and prosecute them," asserted Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Raj Tilak Roushan.
A total of 12 persons have been arrested in the case so far and all-out efforts are underway to nab others involved, Roushan said.
Earlier in the day, a Central Bureau of Investigation spokesperson, in a statement, said the International Police Cooperation Unit of the CBI, in collaboration with NCB-Abu Dhabi, successfully brought back wanted Red Notice subject Kubbawala Mustafa to India on Friday.
“The subject was earlier geo-located in UAE through close follow-up by CBI through Interpol with NCB-Abu Dhabi,” the spokesperson said.
Kubbawala was chargesheeted in Mumbai and a special court had issued an open-dated arrest warrant against him.
“The CBI got the Red Notice published through Interpol on November 25, 2024 on the request of Mumbai police. NCB-Abu Dhabi conveyed on June 19, 2025 that, their authorities have requested to send a security mission to UAE to bring back the subject to India. Subsequently a team of Mumbai police was formed to bring back the subject from the UAE,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier, a case was registered against Mustafa and others at Kurla police station here on the allegations that he was operating a synthetic drug manufacturing factory in Sangli from abroad, a Mumbai police official said.
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