New Delhi, October 25: The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) carried out simultaneous raids at 38 locations in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur under Operation Trident, arresting 18 people and freezing 1,424 bank accounts, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday.
The operation began in the early hours of 23 October. The NCB worked with Mizoram Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sending 38 multi-agency teams to search locations at the same time. According to Shah, it uncovered hawala transactions worth ₹100 crore. Properties worth ₹17.82 crore were attached, and 500 detonators and ₹12 lakh in cash were seized.
Where the raids took place
The searches covered Aizawl, Champhai and the border trading town of Zokhawthar in Mizoram, along with linked bases in Churachandpur in Manipur and the Cachar transit corridor in Assam. The Home Ministry said searches, enquiries and financial checks were carried out together so that suspects could not flee or hide assets.
The network
The investigation targeted a syndicate led by Myanmar-based Thangcintuang alias Chintuang alias Tluanga, who is wanted in more than 10 NDPS cases. The network moved methamphetamine and heroin through the Myanmar–Mizoram–Manipur–Assam–Tripura corridor into mainland India and Bangladesh. Shah described the route as the “Death Triangle Corridor”.
Earlier phases of the investigation led to the arrest of the kingpin in Delhi; his associate Vungkhanthawna, who is now detained under the PITNDPS Act; hawala operator Lalrampari, arrested by the NCB on 8 August 2024; and Abu Saleh alias Saifuddin, who handled logistics on the Assam corridor and was arrested in Cachar on 20 November 2025. Financial profiling and digital forensics from those cases pointed to a wider web of facilitators, shell entities and money mules.
The ministry said the operation follows the Vision Document on Narcotics Control (2026-2029), which shifts the focus from seizures to dismantling networks and their finances. Shah said the government aims to eradicate every drug network by 31 December 2029, and congratulated the central agencies and the police forces of the three states.
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