Enforcement Directorate cracks down on Dawood-linked drug racket in Mumbai, Gujarat

MUMBAI: The Enforcement Directorate launched extensive search operations at 20 locations across Mumbai, besides Surat, Ankleshwar, and Rajkot in Gujarat, as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged international narcotics syndicate operated by Salim Ismail Dola and his associates, the agency said on Tuesday. According to the ED sources, the action has been initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The searches targeted premises connected to suppliers of precursor chemicals, traders dealing in industrial chemicals, suspected drug traffickers involved in the manufacture and supply of synthetic narcotic substance Mephedrone, also known as MD, hawala operators, and individuals allegedly holding benami properties purchased using proceeds from the illegal trade.

Salim Dola, who was extradited to India from Turkiye in May this year, is alleged to be a close associate of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim, believed to be hiding in Pakistan. Investigators suspect that Dola operated a large transnational network involved in drug production, trafficking, and laundering of proceeds generated from the narcotics business. (IANS)

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