Panaji, July 23 — The ED arrested Dubai resident Nihal V.N. in a major crackdown on crypto-hawala and an international narcotics money laundering syndicate, an official said on Thursday.
As part of a strategy to dismantle the financial infrastructure of transnational narco-syndicates, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Goa Zonal Office, took Nihal V.N. into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.
A Special Court (PMLA), Goa, remanded the accused to ED custody for seven days till July 28, said an ED statement.
The crackdown shifts the focus from individual drug carriers to targeting complete drug-trafficking networks, darknet operators, kingpins, and their cross-border financial facilitators.
The PMLA investigation revealed that Nihal V.N., operating out of Dubai, served as a primary financial node and money launderer for international drug lords operating across multiple continents.
He processed cash and illegal proceeds generated from illicit drug sales in India and converted substantial Proceeds of Crime generated from illegal narcotic drug business into various cryptocurrencies and Foreign Exchange, the ED said.
The laundered crypto and foreign currency were routed to international cartels and suppliers based in Brazil and Thailand to finance the procurement of high-grade narcotic substances and synthetic drugs intended for smuggling into India, it said.
Forensic and digital investigations have already identified multiple illicit crypto-wallets, offshore bank accounts, and domestic shell entities used to launder Proceeds of Crime, said the ED.
Earlier, the ED, Panaji Zonal Office, conducted search operations at 26 premises across multiple States, including Goa, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Odisha and Delhi, under PMLA, 2002, in a case registered based on an FIR registered by the Anti-Narcotics Cell, Goa Police.
The Goa Police had registered the case under the provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, for trafficking of narcotic substances in commercial quantities, and the existence of a well-organised inter-State drug trafficking syndicate was revealed.
The distribution of narcotic substances on a business-to-business (B2B) basis was traced across multiple States, namely Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Kerala, the ED said.
The ED seized 3 crore cash, along with incriminating documents and digital devices. Earlier in this case, the main accused, Madhupan S.S., was arrested on January 17, 2026, under section 19 of the PMLA, 2002. He is currently under judicial custody.