Aizawl: At least 18 people have been arrested and properties worth Rs 17.82 crore provisionally attached in a multi-agency crackdown on suspected inter-state drug trafficking and associated financial networks across Mizoram, Assam and Manipur, Mizoram Home Minister K. Sapdanga said on Monday.
The coordinated operation, codenamed Operation Trident, was conducted on October 23 by the Mizoram Police, Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Directorate of Enforcement (ED). A total of 38 joint teams searched 38 locations in Aizawl, Champhai and Lawngtlai in Mizoram, Churachandpur in Manipur and Guwahati in Assam, Sapdanga told reporters.
The operation also resulted in the freezing of 1,424 bank accounts allegedly linked to narcotics trafficking and narco-hawala networks. Authorities seized Rs 12 lakh in cash and 500 detonators during the searches, the minister said.
According to Sapdanga, the ED conducted searches under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with three money-laundering cases. The agency also provisionally attached properties valued at Rs 17.82 crore allegedly belonging to narco-hawala operators based in Mizoram.
The Mizoram Police, working with their counterparts in Assam and Manipur and central agencies, arrested five people in connection with a suspected inter-state drug trafficking network.
Three of them, identified as Basanta Doley, Elajyoti Pegu Doley and Jitu Kalita, were arrested in Guwahati, while Paotinmang Haokip and Nemhoiting Khongsai were apprehended in Churachandpur, the minister said.
The NCB arrested seven people in Mizoram, including two in Aizawl and five in Champhai. Cash amounting to Rs 12 lakh and 500 detonators were recovered from the possession of two accused, according to Sapdanga.
Separately, the ED arrested six people in connection with three money-laundering cases. The arrests included two people in Mizoram, one in Gujarat and three in Manipur.
The agency also froze 1,424 bank accounts suspected of being connected to narcotics trafficking and narco-hawala operations in Mizoram and Manipur. Properties worth Rs 17.82 crore allegedly linked to narco-hawala operators based in Mizoram were provisionally attached.
Sapdanga said Operation Trident followed intelligence gathering, digital and financial analysis, and joint target mapping by the participating agencies.
He said the operation was intended not only to disrupt suspected drug trafficking networks but also to target the financial channels and support systems allegedly sustaining them, including hawala operators and mule bank accounts.
The searches covered key urban centres and border routes, including Zokhawthar along the Indo-Myanmar border, which is a significant corridor in the region.
The minister said intelligence-led enforcement and coordination among state and central agencies would continue to target inter-state and international drug trafficking networks as part of efforts to achieve a drug-free Mizoram and India.