ED conducts first-ever raids along India-Myanmar border in major drugs-linked money laundering probe

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday carried out its first-ever searches along the India-Myanmar border in a drugs trafficking-linked money laundering probe. Raids were conducted across Aizawl and Champhai in Mizoram, Sribhumi in Assam and Ahmedabad in Gujarat. Officials said the agency seized ₹35 lakh in cash along with several digital devices during the operation.

Investigators found financial links between Mizoram-based firms and certain Gujarat companies that allegedly supplied Pseudoephedrine tablets and Caffeine Anhydrous. These chemicals are suspected to have been routed to drug smugglers working through habitual offenders operating in Champhai. Some transactions were also traced to Kolkata-based shell companies that procured consignments of Caffeine Anhydrous.

Officials said precursor chemicals used in methamphetamine production are transported from India to Myanmar through the porous border and the finished product enters India largely through Mizoram. The agency’s analysis detected deposits worth ₹52.8 crore in bank accounts linked to narco-hawala operators across Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, West Bengal, Tripura and Delhi.

Several hawala operators are being questioned as part of the ongoing searches. Officials said the findings point to an organised cross-border supply chain of chemicals, money laundering routes and hawala channels used to fund drug trafficking networks.