NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday announced the dismantling of an international narcotics syndicate operating across India, Myanmar and Bangladesh, following coordinated raids at 38 locations in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur that led to 18 arrests, the freezing of 1,424 bank accounts and the uncovering of hawala transactions worth Rs 100 crore.
The Home Minister said that the October 23 operation, codenamed “Operation Trident”, also resulted in the attachment of properties worth Rs 17.82 crore, the seizure of 500 detonators and the recovery of Rs 12 lakh in cash.
Announcing the details of the operation, Shah said in an ‘X’ post, “Central agencies and police forces in the three northeastern states had carried out simultaneous operations to dismantle the international drug trafficking network and expose its financial links.”
The cartel allegedly used the corridor connecting India, Myanmar and Bangladesh to move narcotics across borders, which Shah described as the “Death Triangle Corridor”, highlighting the growing threat posed by cross-border drug trafficking and its associated financial networks.
The operation is part of the Centre’s broader campaign to eliminate drug trafficking networks by December 31, 2029, a deadline set by the government. Shah said the crackdown reflected the government’s determination to pursue drug cartels until their networks were dismantled.
The operation comes amid growing concerns over the flow of synthetic drugs into India through the Northeast, particularly from Myanmar.
At a conference of home ministers from BIMSTEC countries on October 13, Shah had rejected the description “Golden Triangle” for the notorious drug-producing region encompassing Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, arguing that the term obscured the devastating consequences of narcotics trafficking.
He had instead called it the “Death Triangle”, warning that the drug trade was damaging the lives of young people and threatening India’s social fabric and future.
The Narcotics Control Bureau’s 2025 annual report identified the Golden Triangle as the principal source of methamphetamine entering India through the Northeast. Mizoram accounted for nearly 42 per cent of seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), followed by Manipur and Delhi, according to the report.
Myanmar has also emerged as the world’s largest illicit opium producer, overtaking Afghanistan after the Taliban imposed a ban on poppy cultivation in 2022. The country’s opium production has risen amid economic distress, civil conflict and the military takeover in 2021, intensifying concerns over trafficking routes passing through India’s northeastern states.
Against this backdrop, the government has initiated fencing along the India-Myanmar border as part of efforts to curb illegal cross-border movement, narcotics smuggling and associated security threats.