The Enforcement Directorate has launched raids across Maharashtra and Gujarat targeting properties linked to Mohammad Salim Dola, a drug trafficker recently extradited from Turkiye, in a money laundering investigation.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday raided multiple locations in Maharashtra and Gujarat as part of a money laundering investigation against Mohammad Salim Dola, a drug trafficker who was brought back by India from Turkiye recently, officials said.
They said about 20 locations in Mumbai, and Surat and Ankleshwar (Bharuch district) in Gujarat were raided after a case was registered by the central agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Dola alias Salim Ismail Dola is alleged to be a close associate of global wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim and has been charged by anti-narcotics agencies with running a trans-national drugs trafficking syndicate.
The 59-year-old Dola was brought back by India from Turkiye in April and was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) soon after he landed at the Delhi airport.
The searches are being carried out at premises linked to suppliers of precursor chemicals, intermediaries engaged in chemical trading, traffickers involved in the manufacture and distribution of the synthetic narcotic drug Mephedrone (MD), hawala operators, and persons holding benami properties acquired from proceeds generated through the organised drug syndicate, ED officials said.
The money laundering case stems from multiple FIRs registered across Mumbai against Dola and others for offences relating to illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, they said.