ED Searches 16 Locations In Assam, West Bengal Over Alleged Areca Nut Smuggling Syndicate

Guwahati: In a surprise move the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at 16 locations in Assam and West Bengal as part of a money laundering probe into a syndicate accused of smuggling foreign-origin areca nut that came into India through the porous Myanmar border.

The Enforcement Directorate is conducting searches at 16 locations across Assam and West Bengal in connection with its money-laundering probe into a syndicate allegedly smuggling foreign-origin areca nut into India through the Indo-Myanmar border.

Officials raided premises linked to Siliguri transporter Dhiraj Ghosh and his associates Binoy Barman and Sandeep Baid, Guwahati logistics firms Jai Karni Tradings Pvt Ltd and Purvottar Agro Pvt Ltd, and businessman Navratan Baid, among others. The investigation and raid are on still filing this report.

The searches were carried out by the ED’s Guwahati Zonal Office along with West Bengal.

According to officials, the network allegedly imported Indonesian and Thai areca nut through Mizoram. ED sources said the syndicate allegedly used residents as front proprietors of firms and routed hundreds of crores of rupees through these entities.

The agency has alleged that the snuggled consignments were subsequently supplied to gutka and pan masala manufacturers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra.

The ED is also probing allegations that a Siliguri-based network collected monthly payments from truckers in exchange for tokens that allegedly guaranteed unhindered passage through Assam, West Bengal and Bihar.

The searches form part of the ED’s wider investigation into the money trail and financial network allegedly linked to the operation.