Six arrested as investigations expose a sprawling narco-hawala network involving financial transactions worth hundreds of crores across Northeast India and major Indian cities.
In a major crackdown on cross-border drug trafficking and money laundering, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen 1,424 bank accounts and secured assets worth Rs 26.01 crore following coordinated operations in Mizoram and Manipur, exposing an extensive narco-hawala network allegedly linked to drug suppliers in Myanmar.
Six people were arrested during searches conducted on October 23 across Aizawl, Champhai and Lawngtlai in Mizoram and Churachandpur in Manipur. The operations, undertaken by the ED’s Aizawl and Imphal offices under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), were coordinated with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Mizoram Police, which carried out parallel action.
The investigation has uncovered an interconnected network of drug traffickers, hawala operators, front businesses and financial intermediaries allegedly involved in transferring proceeds from heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine trafficking to Myanmar-based suppliers.
The crackdown follows three separate narcotics seizures dating back to March 2025. The first involved 4.722 kg of heroin concealed in 440 soap cases, seized by Zokhawthar Police in Champhai on March 14, 2025, while being transported to Aizawl for a Myanmar-based supplier.
The second seizure took place on August 21, 2025, when NCB personnel intercepted a convoy near Seling in Mizoram, recovering 49.101 kg of methamphetamine tablets and 40 grams of heroin. The consignment allegedly originated from Myanmar-based supplier Chintuang and was destined for the Damchhera-Kanhmun border.
A third case emerged on July 2, 2026, when Churachandpur Police seized 2.413 kg of brown sugar and Rs 31.43 lakh in cash, suspected to be proceeds from drugs supplied by Myanmar-based operators.
Investigations into these cases revealed common financial intermediaries and bank accounts connecting trafficking operations in Mizoram and Manipur, with proceeds collected across Assam, Tripura and other parts of India.
According to the ED, the Champhai-Zokhawthar corridor along India’s 1,643-km border with Myanmar operated as a two-way trafficking route, with chemicals moving from India into Myanmar and finished narcotics entering India through the same sector.
Investigators found that Krishiv Enterprises had dispatched approximately 32 tonnes of caffeine anhydrous in 15 consignments between March and November 2024, besides 10 tonnes of aluminium chloride anhydrous, to small pharmacies and commercial establishments in Mizoram.
Although the consignments carried GST invoices and e-way bills, the receiving establishments reportedly lacked manufacturing facilities. The ED suspects the chemicals were subsequently transported into Myanmar, where caffeine anhydrous was used in producing methamphetamine tablets commonly known as Yaba.
In the opposite direction, heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets allegedly crossed the Tiau River near Zokhawthar before being transported through Champhai and Aizawl towards Assam, Tripura and other Indian markets.
Myanmar-based organisers, including Runthanchhungi alias Nu Sungi and Chintuang, allegedly employed local carriers who concealed drugs in soap cases and transported consignments using taxis, motorcycles and truck convoys, sometimes accompanied by escort vehicles.
A major breakthrough came from tracing drug proceeds collected in Churachandpur, where syndicate operative Nengzatuan Valte alias Tuanpi allegedly handed cash to Zenngaihniang alias Taniang for transfer through Mini-ATM and Customer Service Point counters.
Investigators found that Taniang deposited as much as Rs 1 crore daily at M/s Go Alpha Trip, a money-transfer establishment operated by H. Gouzalal. Between 2024 and June 2026, the establishment allegedly conducted 2,947 transfers totalling Rs 175.03 crore to accounts belonging to traders, pharmacies and individuals in Mizoram.
The transactions were recorded under Taniang’s code name, “NUNIANG”, and portions of the money were routed through other counters and front entities to obscure the financial trail.
Several beneficiary accounts were allegedly rented out for commissions of Rs 500 per lakh. In seven accounts examined, investigators found receipts of Rs 11.98 crore, against cash withdrawals of just Rs 17 lakh.
One account belonging to a Champhai homemaker, operated by her bank-employee husband, reportedly received Rs 15.48 crore despite the family’s monthly income being approximately Rs 27,000.
The investigation also identified Lalrampari and her husband Lalliansanga, proprietor of JTS Store in Champhai, as alleged key hawala operators whose accounts 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 network allegedly operated through unlicensed rupee–kyat exchanges, settling payments with Myanmar-based suppliers for commissions ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 500 per lakh.
Significantly, the financial trail extended beyond Northeast India to Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Investigators traced Rs 2.14 crore received by alleged hawala operator Lalrinkima from Kolkata-based shell entities and Rs 10 lakh received by Taniang from a Howrah-based shell company.
Cash deposits were also traced to Delhi, Kolkata, Guwahati and Silchar, suggesting that proceeds from drugs sold in major Indian cities were being channelled back towards Myanmar through layered banking and hawala transactions.
During the October 23 searches, ED officials seized financial ledgers, cheque books, debit cards, mobile phones and digital devices from hawala operators, account holders, front businesses and money-transfer establishments.
Records recovered from Go Alpha Trip reportedly matched transactions involving several Mizoram accounts, including those associated with Thangkhuala and his wife (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.
The six arrested persons have been identified as Kashyap G. Thakkar of Aizawl, Thangkhuala of Champhai, T. Chatuan Vanlalgakha of Aizawl, and Zenngaihniang alias Taniang, Nengzatuan Valte alias Tuanpi and H. Gouzalal, all from Churachandpur.
Taniang and Tuanpi, already in judicial custody in narcotics cases, were formally arrested with permission from the Special Judge in Churachandpur. The accused are being produced before the jurisdictional PMLA courts, while proceedings are under way against four more persons in judicial custody in Mizoram.
Apart from freezing 1,424 bank accounts, the ED provisionally attached Hotel JTS, a five-storey commercial property standing on 571.11 square metres of land at Zion Veng in Champhai, valued at Rs 17.82 crore and registered in Lalliansanga’s name.
Together with Rs 8.19 crore previously secured through frozen bank accounts, the total value of assets secured has reached Rs 26.01 crore.
The ED is now examining the involvement of bank officials, money-transfer operators, beneficiary account holders and Myanmar-based recipients, besides tracing the ultimate destination of chemicals and identifying additional proceeds of crime.
The investigation highlights the growing complexity of cross-border narcotics trafficking in Northeast India, where established smuggling corridors are increasingly intertwined with formal banking channels, shell companies and informal financial networks.
More importantly, the findings suggest that the Myanmar-linked drug trade is sustained not merely by trafficking routes along the border but by an extensive financial infrastructure reaching major Indian cities. Dismantling these networks could prove as crucial as intercepting narcotics consignments in addressing the region’s continuing drug-trafficking challenge.
The ED said its investigation remains ongoing as part of efforts to dismantle narcotics financing networks under the government’s Nasha Mukt Bharat initiative.
