India, June 4 -- The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at nine locations in the Champai region along the Mizoram-Myanmar border in connection with a probe into the smuggling of Burmese dry areca nuts into India, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Officials said the raids were carried out on Tuesday morning with the help of the Mizoram Police on individuals involved in the smuggling. "This major crackdown targets a highly organised cross-border network involved in the large-scale smuggling of dry areca nuts into India. The raids focussed primarily on the residences and business premises of prominent local facilitators of the smuggling network," said an officer, who asked not to be named.

An officer said the E...