ED freezes 1,424 accounts, attaches Rs 17.82 crore in Operation Trident

The Enforcement Action

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has frozen 1,424 bank accounts and provisionally attached properties worth ₹17.82 crore in three money-laundering cases linked to cross-border narcotics trafficking in Mizoram and Manipur, as part of a multi-agency exercise the government has named "Operation Trident". The actions were announced in a Ministry of Home Affairs release published by the Press Information Bureau on 25 October 2026 (Release ID: 2328181).

According to that release, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) "spearheaded" the operation in the early hours of 23 October 2026, working with Mizoram Police and the ED. Thirty-eight multi-agency teams searched 38 locations across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur. The release lists Aizawl, Champhai and the border trading town of Zokhawthar in Mizoram, Churachandpur in Manipur, and the Cachar transit corridor in Assam among the areas covered.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in a post quoted in the release, said the operation revealed ₹100 crore worth of hawala transactions, froze 1,424 bank accounts, attached properties worth ₹17.82 crore, seized 500 detonators and ₹12 lakh in cash, and led to 18 arrests across the agencies involved.

The ED's own account, carried in wire coverage, puts its share at six arrests under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), three in Mizoram and three in Manipur. No individual has been convicted in these money-laundering cases, and none of the persons arrested has publicly responded to the allegations on the record reviewed for this report.

How the Scheme Worked

The government's release frames Operation Trident as the latest phase of a longer investigation. It says sustained "backward and forward linkage investigations" by the NCB, Mizoram Police and the ED identified a transnational network that, it alleges, routed methamphetamine and heroin from Myanmar through a Myanmar-Mizoram-Manipur-Assam-Tripura corridor into mainland India and Bangladesh. The release says the person it identifies as the network's Myanmar-based leader is wanted in more than 10 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and was arrested in Delhi.

The release describes earlier steps in the matter. An alleged key facilitator was arrested and later detained under the PIT-NDPS Act. A person the release describes as the primary hawala operator was arrested by the NCB on 08.08.2024, and the release says investigations then "exposed nearly ₹100 Crore in illicit hawala transactions" linked to the network, prompting joint action with the ED. An alleged logistics coordinator for the Assam corridor was arrested in Cachar on 20.11.2025. According to the release, financial profiling and digital forensics from those arrests revealed "a wider web of facilitators, shell entities, and money mules".

The ED's statement, as reported by IANS, sets out the money trail it alleges. It says the three PMLA cases arise from FIRs registered under the NDPS Act over the trafficking of heroin, brown sugar and methamphetamine tablets from Myanmar. Drug proceeds, the ED alleges, were settled with Myanmar-based suppliers through a hawala system that used bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai.

The agency describes a specific route. Cash collected in Manipur was, it alleges, deposited through a Mini-ATM counter in Churachandpur and then moved through rented bank accounts in Mizoram. The ED says one account in Champhai received about ₹15.48 crore, against a much smaller household income. It further alleges that a hotel and a commercial building in Champhai were built with these funds; that property forms part of the ₹17.82 crore provisionally attached.

According to the ED, account holders it questioned admitted renting out their accounts to suspected operators for ₹500 per lakh of transactions. The agency says earlier freezes of ₹8.19 crore take the total value of assets it has secured in these cases to over ₹26 crore.

The Law Invoked

The ED's action was taken under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The PMLA allows the agency to investigate the proceeds of a "scheduled offence", here the narcotics offences registered under the NDPS Act, and to search premises, freeze accounts and provisionally attach property it believes represents those proceeds. Per the ED's statement, the six arrests were made under Section 19 of the PMLA, the provision that empowers authorised officers to arrest a person they have reason to believe is guilty of money laundering, subject to recording reasons and producing the person before a court.

The underlying predicate cases are under the NDPS Act, the central law that criminalises the production, possession, sale and trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The release also cites the PIT-NDPS Act (the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act), a preventive-detention law that lets authorities detain a person to stop suspected trafficking activity, separately from trial.

The release does not set out further section numbers, and this report does not supply them.

What Happens Next

A provisional attachment under the PMLA is not a confiscation and not a conviction. The ED must place the attachment before the Adjudicating Authority under the Act, which decides whether to confirm it after hearing the affected parties. A confirmed attachment can be challenged before the Appellate Tribunal and then in the High Court. Frozen accounts follow a similar path of review, and account holders can contest a freeze before the appropriate forum.

For the six persons the ED says it arrested, the next stage runs through the Special Court designated under the PMLA. According to the ED, applications to produce four more accused, already in judicial custody in narcotics cases, are pending before a Special Court in Mizoram. If the ED files a prosecution complaint, the court decides whether to take cognisance and frame charges, after which a trial tests the evidence. The NDPS cases proceed on their own track.

At every stage these remain allegations subject to due process. The government's figures describe what the agencies say they found; they are not judicial findings.

What It Means

For ordinary bank customers, the most practical lesson in this matter is the role the ED attributes to rented accounts. In its telling, the hawala trail depended on people allowing their savings accounts to be used for a small fee. Whatever the outcome of these cases, a freeze of more than a thousand accounts shows what lending an account can lead to: blocked balances, questioning by investigators, and the risk of being drawn into a criminal case as a participant rather than a bystander.

The protective steps are simple. Never let anyone else use your bank account, debit card, UPI handle or net-banking login, whatever the payment offered. Treat an offer of "commission" for receiving and forwarding money as a warning sign. Check your statements for credits you cannot explain and report them to your bank in writing. Suspected financial fraud can be reported on the government's National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in.

If your account is frozen and you believe you have done nothing wrong, ask your bank in writing which agency ordered the freeze and under what reference, and take legal advice before responding to any notice. Calm, documented engagement with the process is the right course.

FAQ

Does the ED's action mean the people it named are guilty?

No. A provisional attachment, an arrest, or an FIR contains allegations, not findings of guilt; the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and due process continues. The PMLA attachment must be confirmed by the Adjudicating Authority, and any prosecution must be tested at trial before a Special Court. None of the persons involved has been convicted in these money-laundering cases.

What exactly did the ED do in Operation Trident?

Per the government's release and the ED's statement, the agency searched premises in Mizoram and Manipur on 23 October 2026, froze 1,424 bank accounts, provisionally attached properties worth ₹17.82 crore, and arrested six people under Section 19 of the PMLA. The NCB led the wider operation with Mizoram Police.

Why were so many bank accounts frozen?

The ED alleges that drug proceeds were moved through a hawala system using bank accounts in Champhai, Aizawl and Lawngtlai, including accounts rented from their holders. It says account holders admitted renting accounts for ₹500 per lakh. Freezing such accounts stops funds moving while the investigation continues.

Can the attachment and freezes be challenged?

Yes. A provisional attachment under the PMLA must go before the Adjudicating Authority, where affected parties can be heard. A confirmed order can be appealed to the Appellate Tribunal and then the High Court. Holders of frozen accounts can also seek review through the appropriate legal forum.

What should I do if someone asks to use my bank account?

Refuse. Lending your account, card or UPI handle, even for a fee, can expose you to a freeze and to investigation. If you have already done so, stop, keep records, inform your bank in writing, and take legal advice.

Where can I read the official release?

The Ministry of Home Affairs release on Operation Trident, dated 25 October 2026, is on the Press Information Bureau website, linked below.

This report is based on the official Ministry of Home Affairs release on Operation Trident dated 25 October 2026, published by the Press Information Bureau. It was surfaced via coverage in Ommcom News, with the ED's statement as carried by The Hans India.