Enforcement Directorate (ED) Arrests Drug Trafficker Akshay Kumar Chhabra in Major Money Laundering Case

(Judicial Quest News Network)

on April 2, 2025, the Jalandhar Zonal Office of the Enforcement

Directorate (ED) apprehended Akshay Kumar Chhabra under the

Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as part of an

ongoing investigation into a money laundering scheme linked to an

illegal drug trafficking operation, he allegedly orchestrated. The

investigation was initiated following a case filed by the Narcotics

Control Bureau (NCB) in Chandigarh, which cited multiple violations of

the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Evidence

gathered during the inquiry revealed that Chhabra was the mastermind

behind an international drug syndicate operating from Ludhiana,

Punjab. He reportedly imported narcotics from Afghanistan using

fictitious companies and subsequently distributed them. This illicit drug

trade generated substantial proceeds, which were laundered through

investments in real estate, the liquor industry, and transferred abroad

via various Hawala networks. Chhabra was presented before the

Hon’ble Special Court in Jalandhar, where the court granted the ED a

five-day custody for further questioning. Prior to this, on October 30,

2023, searches were conducted at several locations related to the case

under the provisions of the PMLA. The investigation is ongoing.