Guwahati: A sprawling cross-border areca nut smuggling network stretching from Myanmar’s border villages to markets across India has come under the scanner of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which says it is probing proceeds of crime worth more than Rs 970 crore.
The agency conducted raids at nine locations in Mizoram’s Champhai district on June 4, targeting traders and facilitators allegedly linked to the smuggling syndicate.
According to the ED, the investigation has revealed a sophisticated operation in which dry areca nuts were illegally brought into India from Myanmar across the Tiau River, bypassing customs checks and official trade channels.
The consignments were allegedly received by local handlers in border areas such as Zokhawthar and Champhai, stored in warehouses and then transported towards the Assam-Mizoram border for distribution to markets across the country.
What makes the case particularly significant is the money trail uncovered by investigators.
The ED claims that traders and financiers based in Silchar, Assam, funded the operation by transferring large sums through banking channels to facilitators in Mizoram. Payments to suppliers in Myanmar were allegedly made in Indian currency and later converted into Myanmar kyat through border money exchangers.
The probe, which stems from a CBI case ordered by the Gauhati High Court, has also uncovered what investigators describe as an extensive paper trail designed to conceal the illegal trade.
According to the agency, e-way bills worth more than Rs 337 crore were generated between 2021 and 2024 using forged plantation certificates and fabricated customs clearance documents to make the movement of smuggled areca nuts appear legitimate.
Investigators allege that many of the plantation owners named in the documents were not registered under GST, suggesting the paperwork was created solely to facilitate the transport of illegal consignments.
The ED believes the network operated through a tightly coordinated chain involving suppliers in Myanmar, border facilitators in Mizoram and financiers in Assam, effectively turning the porous Indo-Myanmar border into a major route for the illegal areca nut trade.
The searches form part of an ongoing money laundering investigation, with authorities examining financial transactions, business records and other evidence seized during the raids.
Officials say the case highlights the scale of illegal cross-border trade operating along India’s eastern frontier and the challenges of monitoring one of the country’s busiest informal trade corridors.
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