Union Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah has hailed a multi-agency operation targeting transnational drug trafficking and money laundering across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, after 18 people were arrested in total. The coordinated strikes on October 23 involved the Narcotics Control Bureau-led Operation Trident, with 38 multi-agency teams hitting 38 locations. The Enforcement Directorate carried out searches in three related cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The operation targeted the logistical and financial infrastructure of syndicates transporting narcotics from Myanmar through the “Death Triangle Corridor” covering India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Teams covered hubs and border corridors including Aizawl, Champhai and Zokhawthar in Mizoram, locations in Churachandpur in Manipur, and the Cachar transit corridor in Assam. Investigators said the raids were aimed at disrupting both supply chains and illicit financing, with agencies sharing intelligence in the days before the strikes under a unified command structure. Financial audits and inquiries were conducted alongside the searches. Authorities identified hawala transactions valued at Rs 100 crore. The ED froze 1,424 bank accounts and provisionally attached properties worth Rs 17.82 crore, bringing the total value of secured assets to more than Rs 26 crore. Police also seized 500 detonators and Rs 12 lakh in cash. The ED arrested six accused, while proceedings against four others are underway in the PMLA cases. In the broader operation, 18 people were arrested, and the action continues as part of the government’s stated push to dismantle organised drug networks.