An Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation has uncovered an alleged network through which drug money was moved across the Northeast and used to buy everyday goods that were then sent to Myanmar as payment for narcotics.
According to a report by ThePrint, citing the ED investigation, a shop in Mizoram’s Champhai district received credits of around Rs 268.80 crore through accounts linked to the alleged network. This included Rs 125 crore in cash deposits from Assam, Nagaland, West Bengal, Tripura and Delhi collectively.
The ED has not provided a state-wise breakdown of the deposits, and the amount originating from Nagaland remains unknown.
The investigation points to a system in which money from drug sales was collected through bank accounts and money transfer centres before being routed to suppliers of goods in India. These goods were allegedly sent across the Myanmar border to settle payments for drugs.
In a detailed report on November 2, The Times of India reported that the network supplied petrol, diesel, flour, edible oil, groceries, medicines, footwear and clothing to drug syndicates in Myanmar.
Instead of transferring money across the border, the goods were allegedly used to settle payments for heroin and methamphetamine.
According to Hindustan Times, which quoted ED officials, the process involved several steps. Money from drug sales was first collected by people operating in towns such as Churachandpur and Champhai. It was then deposited through mini-ATM and customer service point counters or through bank accounts allegedly provided by money handlers.
The money was transferred to suppliers such as petrol pumps, flour mills, grocery wholesalers, medicine dealers and clothing traders. The goods were then moved to border towns in Mizoram before being sent into Myanmar.
The payments were made through Indian banking channels, while the goods were allegedly sold in Myanmar. The money earned from those sales was used to settle the drug suppliers’ dues.
The Times of India reported that investigators had identified transactions involving goods worth more than Rs 270 crore and over 1,400 suspected mule bank accounts. Mule accounts are bank accounts used by other people to receive or transfer money, often to hide its actual source.
The investigation also traced a money transfer counter in Churachandpur, Manipur, which handled 2,947 transfers worth Rs 175.03 crore between 2024 and June 2026, according to Hindustan Times.
The investigation has also traced the route through which drugs were allegedly brought into India.
According to The Times of India, precursor chemicals were moved from India to Myanmar, where drug production took place. Finished consignments of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets were then brought across the Tiau river near Zokhawthar in Mizoram, opposite Khawmawi in Myanmar.
The consignments were taken to Champhai before being moved along the Champhai-Aizawl road and National Highway-06A towards Aizawl, Vairengte and Assam, from where they could be transported to other parts of India.
The findings suggest that the network relied not only on drug carriers but also on traders, bank accounts, money handlers and suppliers of everyday goods.
The findings came amid a major crackdown on drug trafficking in the region.
According to a Ministry of Home Affairs press release issued through the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on October 25, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in coordination with the ED and Mizoram Police, launched ‘Operation Trident’ on October 23.
A total of 38 teams carried out searches at 38 locations across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur.
The ministry said the operation led to the freezing of 1,424 bank accounts, attachment of properties worth Rs 17.82 crore, seizure of Rs 12 lakh in cash and 500 detonators, and the arrest of 18 people.
The searches covered Aizawl, Champhai and Zokhawthar in Mizoram, Churachandpur in Manipur and the Cachar area of Assam. Nagaland was not among the states where the searches were conducted.
The ED separately told the Times of India that six people were arrested during its searches in Mizoram and Manipur. The agency’s investigation involved three cases linked to the trafficking of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine from Myanmar and the alleged movement of drug proceeds through hawala channels.
In another operation, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized 50 kg of methamphetamine in Mizoram and Assam on October 29 and 30.
According to a PIB release issued by the Ministry of Finance on October 30, the seizure included 30 kg of methamphetamine tablets hidden inside an office table and 20 kg of crystal meth concealed above a truck driver’s cabin and packed in tea packets. Four people were arrested, while three vehicles were seized.
Preliminary investigation indicated that the drugs had been smuggled from Myanmar.
The regional investigation comes as Nagaland continues to report substantial drug seizures.
According to the Nagaland Home Department’s Annual Administrative Report 2025–26, presented by Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton in the State Assembly on March 10, 2026, the state recorded 158 cases under the NDPS Act in 2025, compared with 194 in 2024.
Despite the decline in registered cases, seizures of synthetic drug units increased from 80,496 in 2024 to 1,04,470 in 2025.
The report also recorded seizures of 576 kg of ganja, around 20 kg of opium, approximately 13 kg of heroin/shanflower and 10 kg of brown sugar/heroin. The total value of the seized drugs was estimated at more than Rs 52.21 crore.
The ED investigation has not established the involvement of any particular person or business in Nagaland. The Rs 125 crore in cash deposits is a combined figure covering five states and Delhi, and the state’s individual share remains unclear.