The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted searches at five locations in Delhi linked to businessman Harpreet Singh Talwar and his associates as part of a money laundering investigation related to the 2021 Mundra Port heroin seizure case.
According to officials, the searches were carried out under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The investigation focuses on tracing the proceeds of crime allegedly generated from what investigators describe as one of the largest drug trafficking cases in the country.
Officials said the raids covered properties connected to Talwar, another individual identified as Shamshudeen, and their associates. Investigators suspect that money earned through narcotics trafficking was invested in nightclubs and other businesses in Delhi.
The money laundering probe stems from the seizure of 2,988.21 kilograms of heroin by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at Mundra Port in Gujarat in September 2021. The narcotics were concealed in a consignment declared as semi-processed talc stones imported from Afghanistan. The seized heroin was valued at more than ₹21,000 crore in the international market.
Harpreet Singh Talwar, also known as Kabir Talwar, was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in August 2022 in connection with the case. He was recently released on bail.
Talwar has also been named in previous enforcement actions. In March 2021, the DRI arrested him in Mumbai in a separate case involving the alleged smuggling of 21.6 lakh “Gudang Garam” cigarette sticks, valued at ₹4.75 crore. The DRI had alleged that the cigarettes were concealed in an import consignment arriving from Dubai.
The NIA has alleged that the heroin smuggling operation was part of an international network involving Afghan, Iranian, and Pakistani nationals. Investigators also claimed that the drug trafficking syndicate had links with Pakistan-based terror organisations, including the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Earlier this year, the NIA informed the Supreme Court that proceeds generated from the Mundra heroin consignment were allegedly routed back to the consignors and used to fund terrorist activities of Lashkar-e-Taiba.
According to the agency, the narcotics were brought into India by disguising them as legitimate imports, while legal export-import channels were allegedly misused by the conspirators.
The NIA had previously stated that Talwar and others were part of an international drug smuggling network that imported heroin through shell companies and facilitated its movement to distribution networks operating across Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
The agency’s chargesheet names several Afghan nationals, Indian businessmen, and foreign-based conspirators. Investigators have alleged that multiple consignments had entered India before the September 2021 shipment was intercepted at Mundra Port.
The ED’s latest searches are part of the ongoing effort to trace the financial trail linked to the massive heroin seizure and identify assets allegedly acquired using proceeds from the narcotics trade.
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