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NEW DELHI : Simultaneous raids across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur led to the arrest of 18 people and the freezing of 1,424 bank accounts, exposing Rs 100 crore of hawala transactions, breaking the financial and operational backbone of a cartel led by a Myanmar-based drug lord arrested earlier this year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday.
In a post on X, Shah said ‘Operation Trident’ was conducted on October 23 to dismantle an international narcotics cartel operating across India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
The operation uncovered hawala transactions worth Rs 100 crore, led to the attachment of properties worth Rs 17.82 crore and resulted in the seizure of 500 detonators and Rs 12 lakh in cash, he said.
Congratulating the anti-narcotics team comprising central agencies and police forces of the three states, Shah said the operation reflected the government’s resolve to eradicate every drug network by December 31, 2029.
“India will hammer until the last nail is driven into the coffin of drug cartels,” he said.
The cartel was led by Myanmar-based kingpin Thangcintuang alias Chintuang alias Tluanga who orchestrated the cross-border routing of methamphetamine and heroin across the Myanmar-Mizoram-Manipur-Assam-Tripura corridor into mainland India and Bangladesh. He was arrested in May this year.
“In line with the Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026-2029), the operation exemplifies the shift from a seizure-centric to a network-centric and financial disruption approach to uproot transnational syndicates,” a government statement said.
The network trafficked narcotics across the borders of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh through the Death Triangle Corridor, it said.
“Preceded by days of covert intelligence fusion, joint target-mapping, and high-level tactical briefings among central and state enforcement agencies, the operation was meticulously designed to simultaneously strike both the logistics nodes and the illicit financial arteries of the syndicates,” it said.
The multi-state operation stems from sustained, intelligence-led backward and forward linkage investigations initiated by the NCB, Mizoram Police and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the network cases identified for thorough 360-degree probe, it said.
Acting with surgical precision under a unified command structure, 38 multi-agency composite teams were mobilised concurrently across 38 pre-identified locations spanning the three states.
“The coordinated strikes extensively covered key urban hubs and sensitive border corridors, including Aizawl, Champhai and the strategic Indo- Myanmar border trading town of Zokhawthar in Mizoram, alongside linked operative bases in Churachandpur, Manipur and the Cachar/Assam transit corridor,” it said
Despite challenging terrain and vast geographical spread, exceptional inter-departmental coordination ensured that all searches, enquiries, and financial audits were executed simultaneously, preventing the flight of suspects or the concealment of illicit assets, the statement said.
“Prior phases of the investigation successfully neutralised key pillars of this cartel, including Thangcintuang @ Chintuang @ Tluanga (Kingpin), who was arrested from the national capital following intensive inter-state surveillance, intelligence development and sustained follow-up operations,” it said.
His close associate Vungkhanthawna who coordinated movement and delivery of Myanmar-origin consignments was also arrested in May and subsequently detained under the stringent NDPS Act.
Primary hawala operator Lalrampari was also arrested by NCB on August 8, 2024.
Investigations exposed nearly Rs 100 crore in illicit hawala transactions linked to the network, prompting joint action with the Enforcement Directorate and freezing of illegally acquired properties.
Abu Saleh alias Saifuddin, Assam corridor logistics head of the cartel, was arrested from Cachar, Assam on November 20, 2025.
“Detailed financial profiling and digital forensics from these breakthroughs revealed a wider web of facilitators, shell entities, and money mules, necessitating the massive, synchronised strike of Operation Trident,” it said. (PTI)
