UAE man, nephew of major narco supplier who ran Mephedrone lab in Sangli, deported, brought to Mumbai

Further probe revealed that Mustafa was one of the masterminds in the operation, and consequently, procedures were initiated to deport him to India.

“The team arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Mumbai, from UAE on Friday. The subject was earlier geo-located in the UAE through close follow-up by CBI through INTERPOL with NCB-Abu Dhabi,” the CBI said in a statement on Friday.

Officials from Mumbai Police said Kubbawala is the nephew of Salim Dola, the main accused in the case, and was involved in mephedrone manufacturing as well as helming the supply and distribution chain. Dola is a major narco supplier, for whom the Narcotics Control Bureau recently announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information on him.

According to officials, Kubbawala was operating the Mephedrone manufacturing syndicate along with his cousin Taher Salim Dola from abroad. Taher Dola was arrested by Mumbai police on his deportation from UAE on June 13.

Kubbawala is a resident of Surat in Gujarat and completed his education from Mumbai before teaming up with his uncle Salim Dola, said an official.

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. He was also supplying the contraband to members of his syndicate in Gujarat, said the Mumbai police official.

Money generated from the mephedrone business was routed abroad through hawala, said the official adding that an ‘angadia’ (traditional courier) was arrested earlier. A total of 13 persons have been arrested in the case so far with the latest arrest.

In February last year, the Mumbai police had arrested four individuals and seized 4kg of Mephedrone from them.

During interrogation, the arrested men revealed that the drug was sourced from Irali village in Kavathe Mahakal taluka in Sangli district.

However, since the exact location was not known, a police team camped in the locality for several days until they zeroed in on the factory. A police team comprising more than 10 officials raided the factory and seized 122 kilograms of Mephedrone along with several raw materials and chemicals that were used to manufacture the banned drug.

Six people were taken into custody and Rs 15 lakh cash, gold ornaments and a Skoda car were seized during raids at their premises, said a police officer adding that Mustafa was wanted in a case registered at Mumbai’s Kurla police station.
Mustafa was chargesheeted and a court issued an open-dated arrest warrant against him.

On the request of the Mumbai police, the CBI got the Interpol to issue a Red Notice against Mustafa on November 25 last year. On June 19, Abu Dhabi authorities conveyed to their Indian counterparts to send a security mission to the UAE to take the accused to India. A four-member team of Mumbai police went to Dubai on July 7 to bring Mustafa to India and he was brought to Mumbai on Friday.