Amit Shah hails 'another lethal blow' as Operation Trident strikes drug cartels across Assam, Manipur, Mizoram

Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that 18 people were arrested following simultaneous anti-drug operations at 38 locations across Assam, Mizoram and Manipur on October 23 under Operation Trident.

The crackdown targeted an international drug trafficking network operating along the India-Myanmar-Bangladesh borders.

"Modi Govt deals another lethal blow against drugs with Operation Trident," Shah wrote on X, referring to the coordinated raids targeting an international drug cartel.

₹100 crore hawala trail uncovered

Giving details of the operation, Shah said the crackdown uncovered hawala transactions worth ₹100 crore and led to the freezing of 1,424 bank accounts and attachment of properties valued at ₹17.82 crore. The operation also resulted in the seizure of 500 detonators and ₹12 lakh in cash, he said.

According to the home minister, the network was involved in trafficking narcotics across India, Myanmar and Bangladesh through what he described as the "Death Triangle Corridor".

The home minister said the operation was part of the government's broader campaign to eliminate drug trafficking networks by December 31, 2029.

"The offensive attests to India's Himalayan resolve to realise the mission of eradicating every drug network by 31 December 2029. India will hammer until the last nail is driven into the coffin of drug cartels," he said.

'The death triangle'

Earlier, on October 13, during a conference of home ministers from BIMSTEC countries, Shah had referred to the so-called Golden Triangle, a drug smuggling route encompassing Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, saying there was nothing golden about it.

"We prefer to call it the death triangle. This is not just drug smuggling but is something that is affecting the lives of our youths, our culture, and our future..." he had said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau's (NCB) 2025 annual report identified the Golden Triangle as the main source of methamphetamine entering India through the Northeast. Mizoram accounted for nearly 42% of all amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) seizures, followed by Manipur and Delhi.

According to the NCB, Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the world's largest illicit opium producer following the Taliban's 2022 poppy cultivation ban. Opium production in Myanmar has reached a ten-year high, driven by economic collapse, civil war and the 2021 military takeover, with trafficking routes passing through India's northeastern states.

Amid rising concerns over drug smuggling and narco-terror activities, the government has also begun fencing the India-Myanmar border.