GUWAHATI: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Guwahati Zonal Office, has seized unaccounted cash of approximately ₹95 lakh and frozen fixed deposits worth around ₹85 lakh during searches at 16 premises, including in Guwahati, in a money laundering case linked to the smuggling of foreign-origin areca nut (betel nut) into India through the Indo-Myanmar border.
ALSO READ: 4.5-Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Assam, Epicentre in Nagaon
The searches were conducted on October 1 at premises in Guwahati, Siliguri, Bagdogra, Phansidewa and Cooch Behar under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. The ED also seized digital devices, property and investment documents, bank records and other incriminating documents during the operation.
The searches were conducted at the residential and business premises of M/s DNG Biotech Pvt. Ltd., M/s Jai Karni Tradings Pvt. Ltd., M/s Purvottar Agro Pvt. Ltd., M/s N R Associates and connected individuals.
The case relates to an organised network involved in smuggling Indonesian, Thai and Burmese-origin areca nut into India through Myanmar and transporting it to markets in West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states using forged GST invoices, e-way bills and transport documents.
According to the ED, the investigation was initiated on the basis of 11 FIRs registered by the Assam Police and West Bengal Police under various sections of the IPC/BNS and the NDPS Act against persons involved in the smuggling, transportation and sale of foreign-origin betel nut.
The agency said its investigation has revealed a multi-layered smuggling and money laundering chain stretching from Myanmar to consuming markets in North and West India. Bank credits exceeding ₹1,000 crore have been identified in accounts connected with the syndicate.
The ED said dried areca nut of Indonesian, Thai and Burmese origin is brought overland to the Indo-Myanmar border opposite Champhai district of Mizoram and ferried across the Tiau river at Zokhawthar in small lots, bypassing the Land Customs Station.
Agents on the Myanmar side sell the consignments to front firms on the Indian side. These firms are proprietorship concerns registered in the names of local residents of Champhai who, according to the ED, have no real stake in the business. Their GST registrations and bank accounts are set up, funded and operated by controllers based in Silchar, Assam.
The controllers retain the cheque books and banking credentials and direct purchases, payments and dispatches. The ED noted that Champhai district has no recorded production of areca nut and that, until recently, Mizoram had no betel nut drying or processing units.
From Zokhawthar, the betel nut is aggregated at Champhai and transported out of Mizoram through Vairengte to Silchar. The consignments are then shown as sales between a succession of shell firms registered in Mizoram and Assam, with invoices, e-way bills and transport documents describing the nut as Indian-origin produce, the agency said.
According to the ED, the firms are closed and replaced once they draw the attention of enforcement agencies.
From Silchar, the consignments are moved by road to godowns in and around Guwahati, where they are stored, re-bagged and re-documented. This part of the network is managed by M/s Bikaner Assam Roadlines India Ltd and its associated concerns, controlled by Sushil Daga, whose premises were searched during the July 3 operation.
The bank accounts of these companies have recorded credits of several hundred crores from betel nut traders across the country, the ED said.
From Guwahati, the betel nut is moved through the Siliguri corridor into North Bengal and onward to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and other states, where it is sold to gutka and pan masala manufacturers at a fraction of the duty-paid price.
The ED said this leg of the network is managed by Siliguri-based accused persons whose network allegedly collects monthly protection money from transporters in exchange for tokens, known as "parchi", and code words to ensure unhindered movement of vehicles carrying smuggled betel nut from the Assam border through West Bengal and Bihar.
While vehicles outside the arrangement are stopped and seized, the agency said.
Payments flow back through layers of bank accounts held in the names of relatives, employees and shell entities, followed by large cash withdrawals routed through hawala channels. The proceeds of crime have been invested in immovable properties, vehicles and other assets disproportionate to the known sources of income of the persons concerned.
Searches had earlier been conducted at 20 locations in the case on July 3.
Further investigation is in progress.
