Agency attaches ₹17.82-crore hotel and land in Champhai; assets secured in the probe exceed ₹26 crore
IMPHAL, Oct 25: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested six people, frozen 1,424 bank accounts and provisionally attached a five-storey commercial building and land worth ₹17.82 crore in a crackdown on an alleged cross-border narcotics trafficking and hawala network operating in Mizoram and Manipur.
The coordinated searches were conducted on October 23 in Aizawl, Champhai and Lawngtlai in Mizoram, and Churachandpur in Manipur, as part of three money-laundering investigations linked to the alleged trafficking of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine from Myanmar.
The ED said the total value of assets secured in the investigations had exceeded ₹26 crore, including ₹8.19 crore secured earlier through the freezing of bank accounts allegedly linked to narcotics-related hawala transactions.
The latest attachment involves Hotel JTS, a five-storey commercial building along with 571.11 square metres of land at Zion Veng in Champhai, valued at ₹17.82 crore.
Six people were arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), with three arrests each in Mizoram and Manipur.
Those arrested in Mizoram are Kashyap G. Thakkar of Aizawl, in the Krishiv Enterprise case, and Thangkhuala of Champhai and T. Chatuan Vanlalgakha of Aizawl, in the Jabrul Haque case.
In Manipur, the ED arrested Zenngaihniang alias Taniang, Nengzatuan Valte alias Tuanpi and H. Gouzalal, all from Churachandpur, in connection with the alleged laundering of proceeds from brown sugar trafficking.
Taniang and Tuanpi were already in judicial custody in narcotics-related cases and were formally arrested with the permission of the Special Judge, NDPS, Churachandpur. The accused are being produced before the jurisdictional special courts, the agency said.
The searches were conducted in coordination with the Narcotics Control Bureau and Mizoram Police. Investigators seized ledgers, cheque books, debit cards, mobile phones and other digital devices allegedly used to facilitate the transactions.
Bank accounts allegedly used to route drug money
According to the ED, investigations have uncovered an interconnected network in which bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai allegedly received proceeds from narcotics sales across Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura before the money was channelled to suppliers in Myanmar.
The agency identified a Mini-ATM and money-transfer outlet, M/s Go Alpha Trip, in Churachandpur, operated by H. Gouzalal, as a key component of the suspected financial network.
Between 2024 and June 2026, the outlet reportedly carried out 2,947 transfers amounting to ₹175.03 crore to traders, pharmacies and individuals in Mizoram.
The ED alleged that cash collected from drug-sale proceeds was deposited through Mini-ATM and Customer Service Point counters before being transferred through banking channels to beneficiary accounts.
Some account holders allegedly allowed their bank accounts to be used for commissions of ₹500 per lakh. The agency is examining whether these accounts were used to disguise the origin and movement of the funds.
The investigation has also traced substantial transactions to suspected unlicensed rupee-kyat exchangers in Champhai. Accounts linked to one such operator, Lalrampari, and her husband, Lalliansanga, proprietor of M/s JTS Store, reportedly recorded credits of around ₹268.80 crore, including ₹125 crore in cash deposits originating from Assam, Nagaland, West Bengal, Tripura and Delhi.
The ED suspects that proceeds from narcotics sales in different parts of India were routed through layered financial transactions and hawala operators before being settled with Myanmar-based suppliers.
Chemicals allegedly supplied across Myanmar border
The investigation has also uncovered suspected links between chemical consignments sent from India and the production of methamphetamine tablets in Myanmar.
According to the ED, between March and November 2024, M/s Krishiv Enterprises dispatched around 32 tonnes of caffeine anhydrous in 15 consignments, besides 10 tonnes of aluminium chloride anhydrous.
The consignments were documented through e-way bills and GST invoices and were sent to small retail pharmacies and a general store in Aizawl and border areas of Mizoram.
The agency alleged that the establishments lacked manufacturing or processing facilities and that the chemicals were subsequently moved across the border to tablet-pressing units in Myanmar. Caffeine anhydrous was allegedly used as a bulking or cutting agent in the production of methamphetamine tablets commonly known as Yaba.
The ED further alleged that finished narcotics entered Mizoram through the Tiau River crossing near Zokhawthar, opposite Khawmawi in Myanmar, before being transported through Champhai and Aizawl towards Vairengte and the borders of Assam and Tripura.
Probe linked to three drug seizures
The money-laundering investigations originated from three cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
The first concerns the seizure of 4.722 kg of heroin, packed in 440 soap cases, by Zokhawthar Police in Champhai on March 14, 2025. The consignment was allegedly being transported to Aizawl for a Myanmar-based supplier.
The second relates to the seizure of 49.101 kg of methamphetamine tablets and 40 grams of heroin by the NCB near Seling in Mizoram on August 21, 2025. The drugs allegedly originated in Myanmar and were intended for delivery near the Damchhera-Kanhmun border.
The third case stems from the seizure of 2.413 kg of brown sugar and ₹31.43 lakh in cash by Churachandpur Police on July 2, 2026. The ED alleges that the cash represented proceeds from drug sales and was intended for remittance to suppliers in Myanmar.
The agency said further investigation was underway to identify other beneficiaries of the suspected financial network, trace additional proceeds of crime and examine the possible roles of bank officials and money-transfer operators.
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