New Delhi/Imphal, October 25, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen 1,424 bank accounts and provisionally attached properties worth Rs 17.82 crore in coordinated searches across Mizoram and Manipur as part of investigations into three money-laundering cases linked to cross-border drug trafficking from Myanmar and narco-hawala operations.
The searches were conducted on October 23 by the ED’s Aizawl and Imphal Sub-Zonal offices under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in coordination with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Mizoram Police. The operations covered multiple locations in Aizawl, Champhai and Lawngtlai in Mizoram, as well as Churachandpur in Manipur.
According to the ED, the action targeted an interconnected network allegedly involved in laundering proceeds from the trafficking of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets from Myanmar. The agency said the latest action brought the total value of assets secured in the cases to more than Rs 26 crore, including Rs 8.19 crore previously secured through frozen bank accounts.
Six accused have been arrested under Section 19 of the PMLA, while proceedings to secure the arrest of four additional accused, currently in judicial custody in narcotics cases, are being processed before the Special Court in Mizoram.
The investigation originated from three cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. The ED said its probe had uncovered a common narco-hawala network in which bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai allegedly received drug proceeds generated in Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura before transferring funds to suppliers based in Myanmar.
The agency identified the Northeast as a major land corridor for narcotics produced in the Golden Triangle, citing the region’s 1,643-km border with Myanmar. According to the ED, heroin and methamphetamine tablets enter Mizoram and Manipur before being distributed locally or transported through Assam to other parts of India and Bangladesh. Proceeds from the sales are allegedly channelled back to border towns in Mizoram to settle payments with Myanmar-based suppliers.
The ED’s investigation has also examined the alleged movement of precursor chemicals from India to Myanmar through the Champhai-Zokhawthar corridor.
According to the agency, M/s Krishiv Enterprises dispatched approximately 32 tonnes of Caffeine Anhydrous in 15 consignments between March and November 2024, along with 10 tonnes of Aluminium Chloride Anhydrous. The consignments were reportedly sent under e-way bills and GST invoices to small retail pharmacies and a general store in Aizawl and the border areas of Mizoram that did not have manufacturing or processing facilities.
The ED suspects that the chemicals were subsequently transported across the border to tablet-pressing units in Myanmar, where caffeine was allegedly used as a bulking and cutting agent in methamphetamine tablets commonly known as Yaba.
In the opposite direction, finished heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets were allegedly brought across the Tiau river near Zokhawthar, opposite Khawmawi in Myanmar. The consignments were reportedly moved to Champhai before being transported along the Champhai-Aizawl road and National Highway-06A towards Aizawl, Vairengte and the borders of Assam and Tripura.
The agency alleged that Myanmar-based organisers, including Runthanchhungi alias Nu Sungi and Chintuang, hired local carriers in Zokhawthar and Champhai. The consignments were allegedly concealed in soap cases and transported in taxis, motorcycles and truck convoys accompanied by escort vehicles. Payments to carriers were reportedly routed through hawala accounts in Champhai.
The ED said the money trail extended beyond the border districts, with drug proceeds allegedly collected in cash across Manipur, Assam, Tripura and other parts of India before being transferred through hawala channels to Myanmar-based suppliers.
In Manipur’s Churachandpur sector, the agency identified Nengzatuan Valte alias Tuanpi as an alleged cash collector and Zenngaihniang alias Taniang as a cash handler. According to the investigation, the money entered the banking system through Mini-ATM and Customer Service Point counters.
The ED alleged that Taniang deposited as much as Rs 1 crore a day at M/s Go Alpha Trip, a Mini-ATM and money-transfer counter in Churachandpur operated by H. Gouzalal, along with lists of beneficiary accounts.
The counter allegedly recorded Taniang under the code name “NUNIANG” and carried out 2,947 transfers amounting to Rs 175.03 crore between 2024 and June 2026. The transfers went to traders, pharmacies and individuals in Zokhawthar, Champhai, Lawngtlai and Aizawl. Some funds were allegedly routed through other counters and front entities to obscure their origin.
According to the ED, pharmacies, general stores and individuals in Mizoram rented out their bank accounts to suspected narco-hawala operators for Rs 500 per lakh. The money was then transferred through RTGS, NEFT and IMPS within days, with little cash withdrawal and no corresponding underlying trade.
An analysis of seven accounts that collectively received Rs 11.98 crore found that only Rs 17 lakh had been withdrawn in cash. One account belonging to a homemaker in Champhai, allegedly operated by her husband, a bank employee, received Rs 15.48 crore despite the family having a reported monthly income of approximately Rs 27,000.
The investigation also traced funds to unlicensed Rupee-Kyat exchangers in Champhai, including Lalrampari and her husband, Lalliansanga, proprietor of M/s JTS Store. Their accounts reportedly recorded credits of approximately Rs 268.80 crore, including Rs 125 crore in cash deposits originating from Assam, Nagaland, West Bengal, Tripura and Delhi.
The ED said the suspected network also received substantial funds from metropolitan centres, including New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Hawala operator Lalrinkima allegedly received around Rs 2.14 crore from shell entities based in Kolkata, while Taniang received Rs 10 lakh from a shell company based in Howrah. Cash deposits made in Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and Silchar into accounts linked to Champhai-based operators also formed part of the money trail under investigation.
According to the agency, the operators transferred funds to accounts across India on instructions from Myanmar-based individuals and settled suppliers’ dues in kyat across the border, charging commissions of Rs 250 to Rs 500 per lakh.
The ED further alleged that the proceeds were invested in real estate and businesses, including Hotel JTS, a five-storey commercial building in Zion Veng, Champhai, which was reportedly constructed using funds routed through hawala accounts.
During the searches, investigators covered the premises of suspected hawala operators, mule-account holders, front businesses, the Mini-ATM counter and bank branches holding key accounts. The agency seized ledgers documenting cash receipts and transfers, cheque books, debit cards, mobile phones and other digital devices allegedly used to operate the accounts.
The ED said some account holders admitted that they had rented out their bank accounts to suspected narco-hawala operators for Rs 500 per lakh.
The agency also said the records recovered from Go Alpha Trip in Churachandpur matched credits in accounts under investigation in two Aizawl cases. These included accounts linked to Thangkhuala and his wife, which allegedly received Rs 2.22 crore; Zuali Drugs Store, Rs 2.67 crore; Fung Than Kimi, Rs 2.05 crore; Lalbiakhluna Lalduhawma, Rs 1.82 crore; and Lalrampari.
According to the ED, these transactions indicated that drug-related cash collected in Manipur was allegedly being settled through the same Champhai hawala accounts linked to heroin and methamphetamine trafficking networks in Mizoram.
The six people arrested during the searches are Kashyap G. Thakkar, Thangkhuala and T. Chatuan Vanlalgakha from Mizoram, and Zenngaihniang alias Taniang, Nengzatuan Valte alias Tuanpi and H. Gouzalal from Churachandpur in Manipur.
Taniang and Tuanpi, who were already in judicial custody in NDPS cases, were formally arrested with permission from the Special Judge under the NDPS Act in Churachandpur. The arrested accused are being produced before the jurisdictional Special Courts under the PMLA.
The investigation into the alleged drug-trafficking and money-laundering network is ongoing.
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