The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting massive search operations across nine spots in the border town of Champhai along the Mizoram-Myanmar frontier today. The agency said the major crackdown is targeting a highly organised cross-border network involved in the large-scale smuggling of illegal Burmese supari (dry Areca nuts) into India.  

 

The Directorate informed that the ongoing raids focus primarily on the residences and business premises of prominent local facilitators of the smuggling network. The investigation revealed that these individuals illegally brought in Myanmar-origin consignments via the Tiu River, stored them in local godowns and used fraudulent e-way bills and forged documents to pass them off as legitimate local purchases.

 

ED also said the illicit pipeline facilitated the generation and systematic layering of hundreds of crores of rupees. The accused actively exploited their local tribal status to act as front claimants before Customs authorities, using unrelated historic import documents to secure the release of seized contraband.