On October 25, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) arrested Danish Merchant aka Danish Chikna, a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim, along with his wife, Henna Shah, from a resort in Anjuna in the North Goa District of Goa.
On October 19, NCB arrested Zohaib Shaikh, an operative of Danish Merchant and a close associate of Dawood Ibrahim, and recovered 839 grams of Mephedrone from Merchant’s home in the Mumbai City District of Maharashtra.
On October 18, NCB arrested N. Gaikwad, another Danish Merchant operative and close associate of Dawood Ibrahim, and recovered 502 grams of Mephedrone, in Pune District of Maharashtra.
On August 9, Salim Pistol aka Salim Sheikh was arrested on the India-Nepal border. He was a key conduit for smuggling sophisticated weapons from Pakistan for several years, with linkages to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the D-Company.
As reported on July 26, 2025, a key supplier of chemicals to the cartel of drug lord Salim Dola, another associate of Dawood Ibrahim, has been arrested at Surat in Gujarat. Brijesh Morabia was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch for also supplying raw materials used to manufacture narcotics through Dola’s nephew, Kubbawala Mustafa.
Significantly, current reports suggest that the D-Syndicate is also active in India’s neighbourhood. As reported on November 7, 2025, Indian intelligence agencies issued an alert over an alliance forming between the D-Syndicate and remnants of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Officials indicate that the syndicate was exploiting South Indian and Sri Lankan routes, to expand its drug trade, after suffering major losses in western and northern India. Intercepted communications suggest that members of the D-Company are in touch with former LTTE operatives and sympathizers to help the syndicate secure access to key maritime and land routes once controlled by LTTE at its peak. Further, it was reported on November 5, 2025, that Dawood Ibrahim’s syndicate had set up bases in Bangladesh. ISI has reportedly instructed the D-Company to use Bangladesh as the main base to push drugs into the Indian market, as well as into Western and Middle Eastern countries. The syndicate has also forged alliances with the drug mafia that operates out of Myanmar.
Dawood Ibrahim set up his crime business in the Middle-East in the mid-1980s. According to a December 2023 report, the gang has two factions. The major one is led by Shakeel Babu Miya Shaikh alias Chhota Shakeel, while the second is run by Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim. Indian agencies have recently secured the extradition of a few of Dawood Ibrahim’s associates from the Middle East. They include:
On November 1, 2025, Salman Saleem Shaikh aka Shera Batla, who was working for Salim Dola, was deported from Dubai (UAE) and arrested by the Mumbai Crime. Batla, a resident of Dongri, had been absconding for nearly three years and was wanted in six major drug trafficking cases.
On October 22, 2025, Crime Branch Unit 7 of the Mumbai Police arrested Dubai-based drug kingpin Mohammed Salim Mohammed Suhail Shaikh, a suspected key player in the D-Company’s drug trafficking network, shortly after his deportation from Dubai.
On July 7, 2025, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) coordinated the return of Kubbawala Mustafa, a member of Dawood Ibrahim’s narco-syndicate, from Abu Dhabi, UAE through INTERPOL Channels. Mustafa was wanted by the Mumbai Police in FIR No. 67/2024 registered at Kurla Police Station, Mumbai, on charges of operating a Synthetic Drug Manufacturing Factory in the Sangli District of Maharashtra from abroad.
On June 13, 2025, CBI coordinated the return of Taher Salim Dola, son of Salim Dola, another Dawood Ibrahim associate, from UAE through INTERPOL channels, to Mumbai. The International Police Cooperation Unit (IPCU), CBI, in collaboration with NCB-Abu Dhabi, brought back the wanted Red Notice subject, Dola, who was wanted by the Mumbai Police in FIR Number 67/2024, registered at Police Station Kurla, Mumbai, on charges of operating a synthetic drug manufacturing factory in the Sangli District of Maharashtra.
The D Company’s businesses focus on a wide range of narcotics: Mephedrone (MD), also known as M-cat, or white magic; Fentanyl; Heroin; Hashish/Cannabis; Ketamine; Methamphetamine, also known as meth, blue, ice, or crystal; Ecstasy; Cocaine; Mandrax/Methaqualone; among others.
Dawood Ibrahim is among the most wanted criminals in India, since he masterminded the 1993 Mumbai blasts. A Government of India notification, dated September 9, 2019 thus notes:
And whereas, a series of bomb blasts were executed by Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and his associates in Mumbai in March 1993, which resulted in deaths of 257 persons and injured over 1000 persons apart from destruction of properties on a massive scale And whereas, an Arrest warrant No. 4913 was issued on the 1st April, 1993 by the judicial authorities in Mumbai and Red Corner Notice No. A-135/4/1993 was also issued against Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar in 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blast case…
Dawood Ibrahim is also designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations under the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1267 and was also listed in Al-Qaida sanctions list on November 3, 2003. Moreover, on April 6, 2006, UNSC issued a Special Notice No. U-65/4-2006 in Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar’s name.
Dawood Ibrahim is reported to have left India in the mid-1980s, as he was wanted by the Mumbai Police over gold-smuggling, as well as the 1985 murder of another criminal, Samad Khan. Later in or around 1994, he shifted base from Dubai to Karachi, Pakistan. The move was made because of mounting pressure from Indian authorities in the wake of the 1993 serial bombings, and the threat of extradition by UAE made Dubai unsafe, and Pakistan reportedly offered shelter under the patronage of ISI. According to the UNSC Consolidated List, dated, June 11, 2025, Dawood Ibrahim has three addresses in Pakistan: i) White House, Near Saudi Mosque, Clifton, Karachi; ii) House Number 37 – 30th Street – Defence Housing Authority, Karachi; and iii) a palatial bungalow in the hilly area of Noorabad in Karachi.
In addition to the current spate of arrests and extraditions, the Indian government has also launched a number of operations to thwart the D-Syndicate’s narcotics trafficking activities. In August, 2025, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), along with Gujarat and Maharashtra Police, neutralised a clandestine mephedrone manufacturing facility, reportedly controlled by Salim Dola, in the Jagdishpur village of the Devas District in Madhya Pradesh, and seized 61 kilograms of liquid mephedrone worth INR 920 million, and more than 541 kilograms of chemicals. In 2024, NCB of India launched ‘Operation Sagar Manthan’, which is ongoing, to dismantle large-scale drug cartel activities of wanted smuggler Haji Salim, also known as the “Lord of Drugs.” Haji Salim supplies large shipments of illegal narcotics through a complex network that spans across Asia, Africa, and the West. A few instances of recovery from this network include: February 2024 – a joint operation, Sagar Manthan-1, carried out by NCB, the Navy and ATS Gujarat Police, seized a consignment of approximate 3,300 kilograms of drugs (3,110 Kg Charas/Hashish, 158.3 Kg crystalline powder Meth and 24.6 Kg Heroin), in the Indian Ocean. November 2024 – in a joint operation Sagar Manthan-4 – NCB, the Indian Navy and ATS Gujarat Police recovered 700 Kg of contraband Meth in Gujarat.
D-Company is also notorious for its involvement in various criminal and terrorism cases. For instance, on September 18, 2017, Dawood Ibrahim’s younger brother Iqbal Kaskar was arrested by Thane Police for threatening and attempting to extort builders. Police said Kaskar had been threatening builders on Dawood’s behalf and demanding huge amounts running into crores as extortion money. On August 4, 2022, Salim Qureshi, alias Salim Fruit, a member of D-Gang, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for suspectedly aiding the gang’s terrorist activities. According to NIA, Qureshi was actively involved in extorting large sums of money in Chhota Shakeel’s name from property transactions and dispute settlements to raise terror funds in furtherance of terrorist activities of D Company. As reported on July 17, 2025, NIA attached a residential property of Arif Abubakar Shaikh alias Arif Bhaijaan, a key accused in a 2022 terror funding case associated with Dawood Ibrahim. On February 3, 2022, NIA registered a case against Dawood, his brother Anees and Chhota Shakeel, among others, for their suspected involvement in arms smuggling, narco-terrorism, money laundering, etc. They were also accused of involvement in acquisition of assets for raising terrorist funds and working in active collaboration with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Al Qaeda.
Since more than three decades, Indian agencies have been neutralizing segments of Dawood Ibrahim’s networks within India, and seeking to dismantle it through cooperative efforts abroad. This malefic enterprise, however, remains a critical threat to India, as well as wide areas across the world. Sustained maritime vigilance and intelligence-driven enforcement underline India’s strategic resolve to dismantle D-Company’s transnational narco-infrastructure.
