New Delhi, Oct. 1 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday conducted searches at 16 locations across Assam and West Bengal as part of its money-laundering investigation into an alleged syndicate involved in the smuggling of foreign-origin areca nuts into India through the India-Myanmar border, officials said.

The ED's Guwahati zonal office searched premises linked to Siliguri-based transporter Dhiraj Ghosh and his associates Binoy Barman and Sandeep Baid, besides Guwahati-based logistics firms Jai Karni Tradings Pvt Ltd and Purvottar Agro Pvt Ltd and businessman Navratan Baid, among others.

According to officials, "the syndicate allegedly brought Indonesian and Thai areca nuts into Mizoram through Myanmar and used local residents...