In a major crackdown spanning 38 locations across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur on Friday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said it had busted an international narco-hawala network linked to cross-border drug trafficking.The operation, dubbed “Operation Trident”, uncovered hawala transactions worth Rs 100 crore. The agency froze 1,424 bank accounts, attached properties worth Rs 17.82 crore and seized 500 detonators and Rs 12 lakh in cash. Eighteen people were also arrested.The searches were conducted at multiple places in Aizawl, Champhai and Lawngtlai in Mizoram, and Churachandpur in Manipur. The investigation involves three money-laundering cases linked to the cross-border trafficking of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets from Myanmar, as well as the hawala settlement of drug proceeds.The operation was conducted in coordination with the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Mizoram Police, which carried out parallel action against the trafficking network on the same day.The ED initiated investigations in the three cases based on FIRs registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.One case in Mizoram stems from the seizure of 4.722 kg of heroin, concealed in 440 soap cases, by the Zokhawthar police in Champhai on March 14, 2025. The consignment was allegedly being transported from Zokhawthar to Aizawl for a supplier based in Myanmar.Another case, registered in January, follows the NCB’s seizure of 49.101 kg of methamphetamine tablets and 40 gm of heroin from a convoy on National Highway 6A near Seling in Mizoram on August 21, 2025. The drugs were reportedly sourced from Chintuang in Myanmar and intended for delivery at the Damchhera-Kanhmun border.The third case in Manipur stems from the seizure of 2.413 kg of brown sugar and Rs 31.43 lakh in cash by Churachandpur Police on July 2. The cash was allegedly generated from drug sales involving supplies from Myanmar and collected in Churachandpur for remittance to the suppliers.According to the ED, investigations into the three cases have uncovered an interconnected narco-hawala network. The same set of bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai allegedly received drug proceeds generated across Manipur, Mizoram, Assam and Tripura before the funds were settled with suppliers in Myanmar.The North-East, which shares a 1,643-km porous border with Myanmar, has emerged as a major land corridor for drugs produced in the Golden Triangle, sources said.Heroin and methamphetamine tablets entering Mizoram and Manipur are consumed locally or transported through Assam to other parts of India and Bangladesh. The proceeds generated along the trafficking chain are then routed back to border towns in Mizoram for settlement with Myanmar-based suppliers.The trafficking corridor operates as a two-way route through Mizoram’s Champhai-Zokhawthar sector, with precursor substances and chemicals used to dilute drugs moving from India to Myanmar.Welcoming the operation, Home Minister Amit Shah said, in a post on X, “The Modi government deals another lethal blow against drugs with Operation Trident. Our agencies launched a barrage of simultaneous crackdowns across 38 locations in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur on October 23, smashing an international narco cartel.”He added that the network trafficked narcotics across the borders of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh through what he called the “Death Triangle Corridor”.Shah said the operation reflected the government’s resolve to eradicate drug networks by December 31, 2029, and congratulated the Central agencies and police forces involved in the crackdown.