Central and state agencies have smashed an international narco-cartel operating across the Northeast under Operation Trident, arresting 18 people in coordinated raids at 38 locations in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur. Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the success of the operation, describing it as another major blow against drug trafficking.
According to the Home Minister, the operation exposed hawala transactions worth around Rs 100 crore, froze 1,424 bank accounts and led to the attachment of properties valued at Rs 17.82 crore. Investigators also seized 500 detonators and cash of around Rs 12 lakh, officials said.
A Cross-Border Network
Officials said the network trafficked narcotics across the borders of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh through what Shah described as the “Death Triangle Corridor”. The Enforcement Directorate led the action alongside the Narcotics Control Bureau and state police, building on earlier cases linked to seizures of heroin, methamphetamine and brown sugar, according to reports.
The raids were designed to disrupt both the supply routes and the financial flows used to pay suppliers across the India-Myanmar border. The scale of the bank-account freeze points to a layered money-laundering structure, investigators said, while the seizure of detonators underlines concerns about the network’s capacity for violence beyond narcotics alone.
Part of a Wider Anti-Drugs Drive
Shah linked the crackdown to the government’s target of eliminating major drug networks by the end of 2029, saying the offensive reflected a resolve to dismantle every drug network. The Northeast sits at the edge of the Golden Triangle production zone spanning Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, making its corridors a persistent focus for law enforcement.
Officials present the coordinated, multi-state model — hitting many locations at the same time — as a way to deny traffickers the chance to adapt, as a sequential crackdown would allow. Whether the financial dismantling holds long enough to prevent the syndicate from rebuilding will be the real test of the operation, analysts cited in coverage noted.
Peace and stability efforts continue across the region, with Manipur planning a committee representing all 36 communities to promote harmony, while security remains a live concern in neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh.
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