The sleepy village of Jagdishpura on the outskirts of Bhopal hid a secret that appeared to be lifted straight out of a crime thriller. Behind the locked gates of House No. 11, investigators found not a home, but a multi-crore synthetic drug factory allegedly run on orders from one of Dawood Ibrahim's most notorious henchmen.
On August 16, a swift raid by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) tore open the façade of rural calm. Inside, sleuths discovered 61.20 kg of liquid mephedrone (MD) worth a staggering ₹92 crore, and over 541 kg of raw chemicals enough to flood markets across India. The seizure has exposed how the D-Company's tentacles are stretching deep into Madhya Pradesh, turning it into a production base for international narcotics.
For decades, Mumbai trembled under the shadow of Dawood Ibrahim. Extortion rackets, gang wars, and contract killings defined the city's underworld. But as Mumbai grew and policing tightened, the gang quietly shifted gears.
Now, intelligence agencies believe don Dawood Ibrahim, Salim "Dola" Ismail, and Umaid-ur-Rehman are pumping funds from Pakistan and Dubai into one of the most profitable rackets of all the production and trafficking of mephedrone, known on the streets as "meow-meow".
Salim Dola, once a trusted aide of smuggler Iqbal Mirchi, is said to be orchestrating the network from Turkey, using old D-Company connections in Mumbai and Gujarat. His nephew Mustafa Kubbawala against whom Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice allegedly acts as his right hand.
The Jagdishpura factory had no amateur setup. Sleuths found industrial-grade mixing machines, chemical reactors, and temperature-controlled chambers. The operation was run by Faisal Qureshi of Ashoknagar, a pharmacy diploma holder trained in Gujarat, and his associate Razzaq Khan of Vidisha.
Chemicals methylene dichloride, acetone, monomethylamine, hydrochloric acid, 2-bromo arrived from Bhiwandi and Thane, ferried in mini-trucks on the orders of Salim Dola. During interrogation, the accused confessed that 400 kg of chemicals were already dispatched to Bhopal from Mumbai.
The masterminds had even roped in local residents. Azharuddin Idrisi was allegedly promised money to pick up consignments from Anjur Phata (Bhiwandi) and deliver them into the heart of Madhya Pradesh.
The house remained abandoned for seven years. Yet, on August 14, just two days before the raid, an electricity meter was sanctioned and installed within hours, bypassing regular checks.
Officials now suspect bribery and collusion, without which such a high-voltage drug lab could never have run undetected. Investigators are probing how officials who once denied connection suddenly cleared it with lightning speed.
This is not just a local bust. According to intelligence sources, the finished product was to be routed across Madhya Pradesh and into other states, using the same network that smuggled in the chemicals.
Five more accused have been arrested from Surat and Mumbai, pointing to a pan-India web of operatives working under D-gang command.
Experts warn that this is only the tip of the iceberg. With narcotics worth nearly ₹100 crore seized in a single raid, the fear is clear: the underworld has reinvented itself, moving from bullets and blood to chemicals and cash.
The bust has sent shockwaves through central India. For many, it is a grim reminder that the underworld never really died, it simply changed its business model.
From Turkey to Dubai, from Mumbai's dark alleys to Bhopal's quiet villages, the ghost of Dawood Ibrahim still stalks India. And now, through the high-stakes trade of synthetic drugs, the D-gang seems determined to target the next generation not with guns, but with powders and liquids cooked in hidden labs.
