GUWAHATI, June 10: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Aizawl sub-zonal office has conducted a series of raids under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 at locations across Tripura, Mizoram and West Bengal, in connection with an ongoing money laundering investigation arising out of a major cross-border drug-trafficking case.
An official statement said that the ED initiated the investigation on the basis of the predicate offence registered by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Agartala Zonal Unit, in Case Number 07/2025 under the NDPS Act, 1985.
The NCB case pertains to the interception of a vehicle convoy along NH-06A in Mizoram on August 21, 2025, which led to the seizure of 49.101 kilograms of methamphetamine tablets and 40 grams of heroin, and the arrest of eight persons.
The offences under Sections 21, 22 and 29 of the NDPS Act are scheduled offences under the PMLA, 2002.
“Investigation conducted by ED has revealed an organised interstate and cross-border syndicate that sourced methamphetamine from Myanmar-based suppliers, smuggled the contraband into India through the Champhai/Zokhawthar sector of Mizoram, and routed it towards receivers based in Tripura,” the statement said.
“The proceeds of crime so generated were layered and integrated through a web of bank accounts held by Myanmar-resident individuals using border addresses and through shell/conduit entities, in addition to the use of cash and hawala channels, so as to obscure the origin and ultimate beneficiaries of the funds,” it said.
“Suspect credits aggregating to over Rs 142 crore have been identified so far. The main Myanmar-based supplier of the contraband, Chintuang alias Tluanga, and a chief transportation facilitator Jabrul Haque, have already been arrested by the NCB,” it added.
