The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at nine premises in Champhai, Mizoram, in connection with a case related to Myanmar areca nut smuggling and money laundering involving proceeds of crime of over 970 crore rupees. The agency said investigations revealed that Burmese nationals smuggled dry areca nuts across the Tiau River into India without customs clearance through Zokhawthar and Champhai and handed over the consignments to local facilitators at the border. It said the local facilitators stored the smuggled areca nuts in godowns in Champhai and coordinated their transportation to Vairengte at the Assam-Mizoram border.
The operations were financed by Silchar-based traders and financiers from Assam, who remitted large sums through banking channels into the accounts of the Mizoram-based facilitators. The probe agency noted that the investigation further revealed that e-way bills amounting to 251.19 crore rupees (SGST) and 86.25 crore rupees (CGST) were fraudulently issued in Champhai district during the period from 2021 to 2024 for the movement of areca nuts, using forged plantation certificates and false customs clearance documents, despite the plantation owners not being registered under GST.
