Probe uncovers alleged cross-border network involving fake documents, fraudulent GST bills and money laundering
GUWAHATI, June 8: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at nine locations in Mizoram’s Champhai district as part of an investigation into an alleged Rs 970-crore cross-border areca nut smuggling and money laundering racket linked to Myanmar.
The searches, carried out recently under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), targeted the residences and business premises of several traders and proprietors in Champhai, a key border district adjoining Myanmar.
The money laundering probe stems from an FIR registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation’s Anti-Corruption Branch in Imphal following directions from the Gauhati High Court in a public interest litigation related to large-scale smuggling of dry areca nuts from Myanmar into India.
According to the ED, its investigation has uncovered an organised network in which Burmese nationals allegedly smuggled dry areca nuts across the Tiau River into India through border points at Zokhawthar and Champhai without customs clearance.
Investigators allege that local facilitators received the consignments, stored them in warehouses in Champhai and arranged their transportation to Vairengte near the Assam-Mizoram border. The operation was allegedly financed by traders and financiers based in Silchar, Assam, who transferred large sums through banking channels to accounts operated by facilitators in Mizoram.
The ED said payments to suppliers in Myanmar were made in Indian currency and later converted into Myanmar kyat through money exchangers operating near the international border.
The agency further alleged that fraudulent GST e-way bills worth over Rs 337 crore were generated in Champhai between 2021 and 2024 to facilitate the movement of smuggled areca nuts.
According to investigators, the documents were backed by forged plantation certificates and fake customs clearance papers, despite the plantation owners concerned not being registered under the GST system.
The searches form part of a wider investigation into what authorities describe as a sophisticated cross-border smuggling network involving illegal imports, document forgery, financial transactions and laundering of proceeds generated through the trade.
The ED has not yet disclosed details of seizures made during the searches. Further investigation is underway.
 has conducted searches at nine locations in Mizoram's Champhai district as part of an investigation into an alleged Rs 970-crore cross-border areca nut smuggling and money laundering racket linked to Myanmar.){kind=link}