ED raids 10 premises in Assam, Mizoram over Myanmar areca nut smuggling; Delhi trader in money trail

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it has raided 10 residential and business premises linked to eight individuals allegedly involved in the smuggling of areca nuts from Myanmar. The agency said the money trail of the alleged smugglers in Mizoram and Assam led to traders in New Delhi.

In a statement, the ED said its sleuths from the Aizawl unit conducted search operations under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) at the identified locations across southern Assam's Cachar, Hailakandi, and Sribhumi districts on August 5, 2026. The accused named in the case are Jakir Hussain, Kabir Hussain, Anjan Kumar Paul, Pinku Paul, Romi Jain, Anowar Hussain, Khalil Uddin, and Dipankar Deb.

The operation was part of an investigation into an organised network engaged in cross-border smuggling of areca nuts from Myanmar into Mizoram, and their onward sale and distribution to purchasers or financiers based in Assam and Delhi, the ED said. The agency initiated the investigation based on a first information report (FIR) registered by the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation in Imphal against public servants and private persons, following a Gauhati High Court order dated July 16, 2024, in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed in 2022.

The FIR alleged large-scale smuggling of areca nuts from Myanmar into Champhai, Mizoram, using fraudulent e-way bills and forged documents, despite the owners not being GST-registered. E-way bills amounting to approximately ₹86.25 crore under CGST and ₹251.19 crore under SGST were found to have been issued from financial year 2021-22 to 2023-24, with Zokhawthar emerging as a major transit point. Zokhawthar is a border trade point in Mizoram's Champhai district, about 180 km southeast of Aizawl.

The ED investigation revealed a layered, three-tier structure used for the smuggling and sale of Myanmar-origin areca nuts. At the first tier, Burmese suppliers handed over consignments of areca nuts without customs clearance to Mizoram-based facilitators at warehouses in Champhai, near the Indo-Myanmar border. The agency identified three main facilitators as women — Lalhnemi, Zosangpuii, and Zonunsang. Along with others, they arranged the onward supply of the smuggled areca nuts to a group of purchasers or financiers based in Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi districts of southern Assam. Bank analysis revealed that transactions running into crores of rupees were conducted between the parties, the ED said.

At the third tier, the Assam-based financiers further sold the areca nuts, or routed the sale proceeds, to purchasers or financiers based outside the northeast. “Romi Jain, proprietor of Delhi-based Ganpati Traders, was found to have conducted huge transactions with Silchar and Mizoram-based entities involved in the illegal smuggling of areca nuts,” the ED said. Investigation revealed that Myanmar-origin areca nuts procured through this chain were ultimately supplied to buyers situated in Delhi, West Bengal (including Kolkata and Falakata), Nagpur, and Uttar Pradesh.

On August 4, 2026, the ED had conducted raids at nine premises in Champhai, covering persons or entities engaged in procurement of smuggled areca nuts from Burmese suppliers. Analysis of their bank accounts established a money trail leading to people in Silchar and Delhi, the agency said. Burmese areca or betel nut is illegal primarily because it is smuggled into India to evade customs duties and taxes. This illicit trade involves forged documents and money laundering, causing massive revenue losses while undercutting domestic farmers.