Myanmarese Nationals Misused Indians’ GST IDs to Buy Drug Chemicals: ED Probe
ED raids across Mizoram, Assam and Gujarat uncover cross-border narcotics network using Indian identities to source raw materials for meth production.
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate’s probe into a cross-border narcotics trafficking racket has revealed that some Myanmarese nationals misused the GST credentials of Indian citizens to purchase raw materials required for drug manufacturing.
The agency had conducted its first-ever searches along the India-Myanmar border on November 27 after registering a money-laundering case linked to a drug-trafficking incident in Mizoram.
According to the ED, evidence collected during the searches showed that Indians procured pseudoephedrine tablets and caffeine anhydrous on behalf of Myanmar nationals, enabling trans-border drug production, trafficking, and money laundering.
The investigation also found that Myanmarese individuals used GST credentials belonging to Indians to buy raw materials essential for manufacturing methamphetamine tablets.
The ED said this operation supported the narcotics supply chain, particularly in the porous Indo–Myanmar border regions such as Mizoram, with smuggling and financial networks extending across multiple Indian states.
Searches were carried out under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in Aizawl and Champhai (Mizoram), Sribhumi (Karimganj, Assam), and Ahmedabad (Gujarat). The agency seized ₹46.7 lakh in cash from hawala operators and others, and froze 21 bank accounts. The ED case is based on a Mizoram Police FIR involving the seizure of 4.72 kg of heroin worth ₹1.41 crore from six individuals. India shares a 1,643-km border with Myanmar on its eastern side.