ED freezes 1,424 accounts in Mizoram-Manipur drug-hawala probe

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen 1,424 bank accounts and provisionally attached properties worth ₹17.82 crore after coordinated searches in Mizoram and Manipur in three money-laundering cases linked to drug trafficking from Myanmar, the agency said on Sunday, October 25.

The action, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), takes the total value of assets secured in the cases to more than ₹26 crore. Six people have been arrested, and the process to formally arrest four others already in judicial custody in narcotics cases is under way.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighted the operation, called Operation Trident, saying 18 people had been arrested across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur and hawala transactions of about ₹100 crore uncovered.

Where the searches took place

The ED's Aizawl and Imphal sub-zonal offices searched several premises on October 23 in Aizawl, Champhai and Lawngtlai in Mizoram and Churachandpur in Manipur. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Mizoram Police carried out parallel action against the network.

The cases stem from FIRs under the NDPS Act, 1985, over trafficking of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets from Myanmar and the hawala settlement of the proceeds.

A two-way corridor

According to the ED, the same set of bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai received drug money generated in Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura and passed it on to suppliers in Myanmar.

The agency said the route through the Champhai-Zokhawthar sector runs both ways:

• Chemicals out: One firm allegedly sent caffeine anhydrous in 15 consignments between March and November 2024, plus 10 tonnes of aluminium chloride anhydrous, to small pharmacies and a general store in Aizawl and the border belt that had no manufacturing facilities. The chemicals were allegedly moved on to tablet-pressing units in Myanmar, with caffeine used to bulk up methamphetamine "Yaba" tablets.
• Drugs in: Heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets were allegedly carried across the Tiau river at Zokhawthar, then moved via Champhai along the Champhai-Aizawl road and NH-06A towards Aizawl, Vairengte and the borders of Assam and Tripura, hidden in soap cases, taxis, motorcycles and truck convoys.

Carriers were allegedly paid from the same Champhai hawala accounts that received drug proceeds, the ED said.

Why it matters

The North East shares a porous 1,643-km border with Myanmar and has become a major land route for drugs from the Golden Triangle, the agency noted. The investigation is continuing, and the allegations are yet to be tested in court.