Coordinated strikes across three northeastern states in a single day — that is the headline from Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's post on Sunday, 25 October 2026, detailing what he described as a major crackdown under Operation Trident targeting drug trafficking and hawala networks spanning Assam, Mizoram, and Manipur.

Simultaneous strikes across 38 locations on 23 October

According to Goyal's post, central agencies conducted simultaneous raids across 38 locations on 23 October, resulting in the arrest of 18 individuals. The operation, he said, uncovered what he characterised as 'a vast network of drug trafficking and hawala operations in the region.' The geographic spread — three states, dozens of sites, a single coordinated window — signals a multi-agency sweep rather than a routine seizure.

Hawala networks have long operated in parallel with narcotics routes in India's northeast, providing the financial plumbing that keeps drug supply chains alive. Disrupting both simultaneously is a tactical priority for enforcement agencies working the region.

The Golden Triangle shadow over India's northeast

Assam, Mizoram, and Manipur sit at the edge of one of the world's most active narcotics corridors — the Golden Triangle, which stretches across Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand. The India-Myanmar border has historically served as a primary entry point for narcotics flowing into the Indian subcontinent, with northeastern communities bearing a disproportionate social cost. Successive governments have conducted coordinated seizures along this corridor, but enforcement officials have consistently identified the financial layer — hawala transfers that convert drug proceeds into usable currency — as among the hardest elements to dismantle.

Amendments to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2014 strengthened penalties and enforcement mechanisms, giving agencies sharper legal tools for precisely these kinds of integrated operations.

The 31 December 2029 target and what it signals

Goyal explicitly tied the operation to a stated government deadline: dismantling 'every drug network in India by 31 December 2029,' crediting the push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and the sustained efforts of Home Minister Amit Shah. Shah, who has overseen central law enforcement coordination since 2019, has made northeast security and narcotics control recurring themes of his tenure.

Naming a specific end-date for what is, structurally, a long-running enforcement challenge is a political commitment — one that Parliament will be in a position to track through progress reports on future phases of operations like Trident.

One operation across 38 locations and 18 arrests is a data point, not a conclusion. But if the government's own clock is running to 2029, the northeast is clearly where it intends to show its work first.