The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has reportedly expanded its investigation into an alleged cross-border areca nut smuggling and money-laundering network to examine the possible involvement of GST and Central GST officials in facilitating the movement of consignments.
The agency’s Guwahati Zonal Office is examining whether forged invoices, fake e-way bills and fabricated transport records were used to disguise allegedly smuggled areca nuts as legitimate goods. According to a Moneycontrol report, investigators are gathering information about the possible role of tax officials, whose identities have not been publicly disclosed. These allegations remain under investigation.
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Suspected Use Of False Documents
A central issue in the investigation is whether the alleged network created a documentary trail that allowed foreign-origin areca nuts to enter domestic supply chains without attracting enforcement action.
The documents under scrutiny reportedly include invoices, e-way bills and transit records used for the movement of consignments across state borders. Investigators are examining whether these records concealed the origin of the goods and whether any officials knowingly helped facilitate their transportation.
The latest scrutiny follows earlier allegations by the ED concerning the use of forged plantation certificates and false customs-clearance documents in areca nut transactions. In its June 4 statement, the agency alleged that fraudulent e-way bills had been issued in Champhai district during 2021–2024 for the movement of areca nuts, despite the plantation owners concerned not being registered under GST.
Alleged Supply Chain Extended Across Several States
According to reporting on the October searches, the suspected network sourced Indonesian and Thai areca nuts that were allegedly brought into Mizoram through Myanmar.
Local residents were allegedly used as front proprietors of businesses through which substantial financial transactions were routed. The consignments were subsequently transported to buyers, including gutka and pan masala manufacturers in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, using allegedly forged GST and transport documents.
On October 1, the ED searched 16 locations across Assam and West Bengal. The premises included those linked to Siliguri-based transporter Dhiraj Ghosh, Binoy Barman, Sandeep Baid and businessman Navratan Baid, along with Guwahati-based firms Jai Karni Tradings Private Limited and Purvottar Agro Private Limited. The searches formed part of the investigation and do not establish wrongdoing by those concerned.
Earlier Investigation Identified Alleged ₹970 Crore Money Trail
In a separate June statement concerning the Myanmar–Mizoram areca nut smuggling investigation, the ED said its examination of bank accounts had identified alleged proceeds of crime exceeding ₹970 crore routed through multiple accounts between 2013 and 2025.
The agency also alleged that local facilitators earned commissions ranging from ₹2 to ₹15 per kilogram for activities involving procurement, transportation, escorting consignments and customs-release proceedings.
According to the statement, local persons were presented as claimants before Customs authorities to obtain provisional release of seized goods. The ED reported payments ranging from ₹20 lakh to more than ₹1 crore towards release proceedings in individual seizure cases. This description does not, by itself, establish that those payments constituted bribes to officials.
The agency further alleged that unrelated Bills of Entry were submitted in certain cases to portray smuggled areca nuts as legally imported consignments. Property documents, business records and electronic devices were seized during the searches, it said. These remain the agency’s investigative allegations.
Truck Payment And Token Arrangement Under Examination
Investigators are also examining an alleged collection mechanism involving transport operators and a Siliguri-based network.
According to reports on the October searches, truck operators allegedly made monthly payments in exchange for tokens purportedly assuring uninterrupted movement of consignments along routes through West Bengal and Bihar from the Assam border. The alleged arrangement forms part of the inquiry into the network’s financial links and transport operations.
The expressions “Abhishek Tax” and “Goonda Tax” have appeared in political allegations surrounding the purported collection network. They are political labels, rather than findings of criminal liability, and the allegations have not been established in court.
Officials’ Identities Yet To Be Disclosed
The reported expansion places the possible involvement of public officials alongside the investigation into traders, transporters, intermediaries and financial transactions.
The key questions are whether the transport documents were deliberately fabricated, who controlled the businesses and accounts involved, and whether officials knowingly enabled the movement of allegedly smuggled goods.
The ED has not publicly identified the GST or CGST officials reportedly being examined. The investigation remains ongoing, and scrutiny or searches alone do not establish criminal responsibility.
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