The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday (June 4, 2026) conducted searches at nine locations in the border town of Champhai along the Mizoram-Myanmar frontier in connection with the smuggling of illegal Burmese supari (dry Areca nuts) into India.

“This major crackdown is targeting a highly organised cross-border network heavily involved in the large-scale smuggling of illegal Burmese supari into India. The ongoing raids focus primarily on the residences and business premises of prominent local facilitators of the smuggling network,” said an agency official.

According to the agency, its investigation has revealed that the individuals under the ED scanner illegally brought in Myanmar-origin consignments via the Tiau River. They allegedly stored them in local godowns and used fraudulent e-way bills and forged documents to pass them off as legitimate local purchases.

“This illicit pipeline facilitated the generation and systematic layering of hundreds of crores of rupees. Furthermore, the accused actively exploited their local tribal status to act as ‘front claimants’ before the Customs authorities, using unrelated historic import documents to secure the release of seized contraband,” said the official.