The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested six people and frozen 1,424 bank accounts in Mizoram and Manipur as part of an investigation into an alleged cross-border drug trafficking and money laundering network linked to Myanmar.
In a statement, the agency said searches conducted in three money laundering cases had uncovered a common “narco-hawala ecosystem” through which proceeds from drug sales across India were allegedly routed back to suppliers in Myanmar.
The frozen accounts, under Section 17(1A) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), allegedly belong to drug traders, hawala operators and individuals holding mule and beneficiary accounts in the two northeastern states.
The ED’s Aizawl and Imphal sub-zonal offices conducted searches at multiple locations on October 23. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Mizoram Police also carried out parallel action against the alleged trafficking network. The six arrested individuals are to be produced before special courts under the PMLA.
Three Drug Cases Exposed Alleged Network
According to the ED, the investigation into three cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, helped uncover the alleged network.
In the first case, involving Krishiv Enterprises, police seized 4.722 kg of heroin concealed in 440 soap cases in Mizoram on March 14, 2025. The consignment was allegedly being transported to Aizawl for a supplier based in Myanmar.
In the second case, the Jabrul Haque case, the NCB seized 49.101 kg of methamphetamine tablets and 40 grams of heroin from a convoy on National Highway 6A near Seling on August 21, 2025. Investigators alleged that the drugs originated in Chintuang, Myanmar, and were intended for delivery near the Damchhera-Kanhmun border.
The third case, known as the Zenngaihniang case, involved the seizure of 2.413 kg of brown sugar and ₹31.43 lakh in cash in Manipur on July 2, 2026. The ED said the cash was allegedly proceeds from drug sales collected in Churachandpur for remittance to suppliers in Myanmar.
The agency subsequently arrested three people in Mizoram and three in Manipur under Section 19 of the PMLA.
Chemicals Allegedly Supplied to Myanmar
The ED described the trafficking route through Mizoram’s Champhai-Zokhawthar sector as a two-way operation, with chemicals allegedly moving from India into Myanmar and finished drugs travelling in the opposite direction.
Investigators alleged that Krishiv Enterprises dispatched approximately 32 tonnes of caffeine anhydrous in 15 consignments between March and November 2024, along with another 10 tonnes of aluminium chloride anhydrous.
According to the agency, the consignments were supported by e-way bills and GST invoices and were sent to small pharmacies and a general store in Aizawl and the border region. The recipients allegedly lacked manufacturing or processing facilities.
The ED suspects that the chemicals were transported across the border to tablet-pressing units in Myanmar, where caffeine anhydrous was allegedly used to dilute and bulk up methamphetamine for the production of Yaba tablets.
Drug Trafficking Routes Across the Northeast
The agency said heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets were allegedly transported across the Tiau river near Zokhawthar and stored in Champhai before being moved along the Champhai-Aizawl road and NH-6A towards Aizawl, Vairengte and the borders with Assam and Tripura.
Myanmar-based organisers allegedly recruited local carriers and used vehicles, including taxis, motorcycles and trucks travelling in escorted convoys, to move the consignments.
The Northeast shares a 1,643-km border with Myanmar and serves as a major land corridor for drugs originating in the Golden Triangle. According to the ED, heroin and methamphetamine entering Mizoram and Manipur are distributed locally or transported onwards to other parts of India and Bangladesh, while proceeds from the trade are allegedly channelled back to suppliers across the border.
The investigation is continuing to establish the full extent of the alleged trafficking and money laundering network.
