The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Panaji Zonal Office, has filed a Supplementary Prosecution Complaint against five additional accused in a money laundering case tied to organised inter-state and cross-border drug trafficking, with proceeds of crime estimated at approximately ₹3.96 crore. The complaint was filed on 18 September 2026 before the Principal District and Sessions Judge, North Goa, functioning as a Special Court under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

The Five New Accused

The supplementary complaint names Nihal Vadakkancherry Nazer, Prasobh P.K., Alfin Thomas, Dheeraj Mathews, and Nishant Pratap — arrayed as Accused Nos. 8 to 12. All five have been charged under Section 44 read with Section 45 of the PMLA for money laundering as defined under Section 3 and punishable under Section 4 of the Act. According to the ED, their alleged roles span generating, procuring, layering, concealing, and converting proceeds of crime — including cross-border conversion into cryptocurrency.

How the Case Began

The ED's investigation was triggered by FIR No. 22/2024 dated 15 October 2024, registered by the Anti-Narcotic Cell, Police Station, North Goa, against Madhupan Suresh Sasikala under Sections 20(b)(ii)(A) and 22(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985. Investigators established that Madhupan S.S. had generated proceeds of crime of approximately ₹3.96 crore through organised drug trafficking since 2016 — a decade-long operation spanning multiple states and international borders.

A portion of those proceeds was reportedly layered through banking channels and routed to Dubai, where it was converted into cryptocurrency — specifically USDT (Tether) — and subsequently used to procure narcotics via the dark web. This crypto-enabled laundering route marks a sophisticated escalation in the financial architecture of the trafficking network.

Main Complaint and Asset Attachments

The supplementary filing is an extension of the Main Prosecution Complaint dated 16 March 2026, arising from enforcement case reference ECIR/PJZO/02/2025 dated 13 February 2025. The main complaint had charged seven accused persons (Accused Nos. 1 to 7). Further investigation has now led to the identification of five more individuals.

During the expanded probe, the ED quantified proceeds of crime attributable to earlier accused: ₹9,39,250 linked to Anam Charan Pradhan (Accused No. 2) and ₹17.48 lakh linked to Uttam Chand (Accused No. 3). Immovable properties of equivalent value belonging to both accused have been provisionally attached under Provisional Attachment Order (PAO) No. 13/2026 dated 16 September 2026.

ED's Broader Mandate

The ED framed the action as part of the national 'Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan' — the government's drug-free India campaign — and reiterated its focus on dismantling trafficking networks by targeting their financial infrastructure rather than only the narcotics supply chain. The agency said it remains committed to tracing and attaching all assets generated through illegal drug trade and money laundering. Notably, this case illustrates a growing enforcement trend: using PMLA provisions to follow the money behind NDPS offences, an approach that has led to asset attachments well beyond what direct seizures would yield.

Further investigation is ongoing, and additional accused or asset attachments cannot be ruled out.