On October 31, 2023, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) conducted search operations under the PMLA, 2002 at several places in the states of Punjab and Rajasthan in an illicit drug trading case. Akshay Kumar Chhabra and other associates’ homes and businesses were searched in Ludhiana, Mohali, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar (Punjab), and Ganganagar, Rajasthan. During the search, more than Rs 4.5 crore in cash, mobile phones, computers, money trail documentation, and property transactions were collected and impounded.
The inquiry was launched by the ED in response to a complaint filed by the NCB against Akshay Kumar Chhabra and his colleagues under different provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985. During the inquiry, NCB discovered 20.326 kg of heroin confiscated from Akshay Kumar Chhabra and other collaborators.
An investigation by the ED found that Akshay Chhabra and his friends were involved in the manufacture and selling of illegal substances. They used to process smuggled morphine/raw heroin via two Afghan nationals and distribute it to numerous drug dealers.
According to the investigation, Akshay Kumar Chhabra made a lot of money from the illegal narcotics trade. The said proceeds were discovered to have been transferred abroad to foreign-based raw heroin/morphine suppliers via Hawala Channels, used by Akshay Kumar Chhabra to purchase various movable/immovable properties in his name and in the names of his accomplices, infused in their related entities by handing over proceeds of crime in cash to the handler of shell entities, raising fake sales invoices to shell entities, and receiving credits from shell entities. More research is being conducted.
