CHENNAI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday carried out coordinated searches in four south Indian states -- Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Keralam -- as part of a money laundering probe linked to multiple narcotics trafficking cases with cross-border linkages, officials said.
As many as 30 premises in Chennai, Tirunelveli, Nagapattinam, Velankanni and Ramanathapuram in Tamil Nadu; Kolar, Malur (Kolar district) and Hoskote (Bengaluru North district); Serilingampally and Nanakramguda (Hyderabad) and Ranga Reddy district in Telangana; Kozhikode, Kannur, Malappuram and Thrissur in Kerala -- were covered as part of the investigation conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
About eight state police and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) FIRs and linked chargesheets related to separate drug trafficking form the basis of the ED action, they said.
The action is part of the Union government's 'Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan' or Drugs Free India campaign and its enforcement plan envisaged under the recently unveiled 'Vision Document on Narcotics Control 2026-2029' by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), officials said.
These cases under ED's radar involve trafficking of narcotics like methamphetamine, marijuana, and MDMA, with cross-border linkages to Sri Lanka and certain West Asian countries, involving more than two dozen Indian and foreign nationals, officials said.