Enforcement Directorate arrests six and freezes 1,424 accounts in Northeast drug-money laundering bust

The Enforcement Directorate announced the arrest of six individuals and the freezing of 1,424 bank accounts in Manipur and Mizoram, targeting a cross-border narco-hawala scheme. The accounts are linked to suspected drug-trafficking operators, mules and beneficiaries who channel proceeds from heroin and methamphetamine shipments originating in Myanmar. Searches stemming from three money-laundering investigations, filed between March 2025 and July 2026, revealed a two-way flow of chemicals and finished drugs across the porous 1,643-km border.

Parallel actions by the Narcotics Control Bureau and Mizoram Police seized large drug consignments and cash in earlier cases. The seized chemicals, including caffeine anhydrous and aluminium chloride, were allegedly used to bulk meth tablets in Myanmar before being smuggled back into India. The six detainees are to be presented before special courts under the PMLA.