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Operation Trident: NCB-led raids and PMLA action hit Myanmar-linked narco-hawala network

By CAShorts DeskPublished Sources: PIB (Ministry of Home Affairs); Directorate of Enforcement; The Hindu; The Indian Express; Department of Revenue (NDPS Act, PMLA); Narcotics Control Bureau

Operation Trident: NCB-led raids and PMLA action hit Myanmar-linked narco-hawala network
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Narcotics Control Bureau led Operation Trident on 23 October 2026, striking 38 locations in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur at once with Mizoram Police and the Enforcement Directorate. Its target was a Myanmar-linked network moving heroin and methamphetamine and settling the proceeds through hawala. The Directorate froze 1,424 bank accounts under the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002.

Syllabus: GS3 · External Threats to Security; GS3 · Cyber Security & Money Laundering; GS3 · Border Security & Organised Crime

Why this matters for UPSC

GS3 internal security: money-laundering and security in border areas. Prelims can ask how the NDPS Act, 1985 feeds the PMLA Schedule, what PMLA sections 5 and 17 allow and where the Golden Triangle lies; Mains, about drug money across the Myanmar border.

Why it matters

Heroin and methamphetamine tablets that cross into Mizoram and Manipur are sold in towns across the North-East and beyond, and each sale sends cash back towards suppliers in Myanmar. Seizing one consignment barely dents such a network, because the next one is already on the road. Freezing the accounts and property that carry the money hurts more: a supplier who cannot be paid has less reason to keep sending drugs. The case also shows how ordinary people get pulled in. Shopkeepers, pharmacy owners and families who rent out a bank account for a small fee become links in a laundering chain and can end up under investigation themselves. Cutting the money route matters as much as guarding the frontier.

Prelims pointers

  • PMLA section 4: money-laundering draws rigorous imprisonment of 3 to 7 years and a fine; the ceiling rises to 10 years when the proceeds relate to an NDPS offence.
  • PMLA section 5: a Deputy Director or more senior officer may provisionally attach property for up to 180 days, filing a complaint before the Adjudicating Authority within 30 days.
  • PMLA section 17(4): within 30 days of seizing or freezing property, the officer must apply to the Adjudicating Authority to retain it or keep it frozen.
  • NDPS Act section 27A: financing illicit traffic or harbouring traffickers draws rigorous imprisonment of 10 to 20 years and a fine of at least Rs 1 lakh.
  • NDPS Act Chapter VA: a seizure or freezing order must reach the Competent Authority within 48 hours and lapses unless it is confirmed within 30 days.
  • Narcotics Control Bureau: constituted on 17 March 1986 under section 4(3) of the NDPS Act, 1985, with headquarters at New Delhi.
  • Golden Crescent: the major opium-producing region of South West Asia, on India's north-west; the Golden Triangle lies on India's north-east.
  • India-Myanmar border: guarded by the Assam Rifles; under the Free Movement Regime, movement was allowed within 16 km on both sides (Home Ministry, 2019).

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Prevention of Money-laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), consider the following statements:

1. A provisional attachment order under the PMLA can remain in force for up to one year from the date of the order.

2. Trafficking offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 are listed as scheduled offences in Part A of the PMLA Schedule.

3. Laundering the proceeds of a drug-trafficking offence under the NDPS Act is punishable with rigorous imprisonment of up to ten years.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only. NDPS offences are PMLA scheduled offences with a higher ceiling, while provisional attachment lasts 180 days.

Statement 1: incorrect. Section 5(1) of the PMLA limits a provisional attachment to 180 days from the date of the order, not one year.

Statement 2: correct. Paragraph 2 of Part A of the PMLA Schedule lists NDPS Act offences, among them sections 15 to 24, 27A and 29.

Statement 3: correct. Section 4 of the PMLA sets 3 to 7 years, but its proviso raises the maximum to 10 years when the proceeds relate to a Paragraph 2 (NDPS) offence.

Eliminate: Statement 1 is wrong because the PMLA allows 180 days, not a year. Out: (a), (c), (d).

Trap: Near-miss figure. One year sounds like a natural limit for an interim order, but the PMLA allows provisional attachment for 180 days.

Remember: PMLA: attachment 180 days; laundering NDPS money up to 10 years, other laundering up to 7.

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