The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has identified a Coimbatore-based syndicate allegedly at the centre of a racket smuggling pre-owned luxury vehicles from Bhutan into India using forged documents and unauthorised foreign exchange channels.

The anti-money laundering agency found this lead after it had conducted raids on October 8 (Wednesday) in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The searches were conducted at 17 locations across Kerala and Tamil Nadu under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999, including residences, automobile workshops, and business establishments in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kottayam, Coimbatore and Chennai. Raids were conducted even at the houses of actors Dulquer Salman, Prithviraj and Amith Chakkalackal.

The ED said the network, led by two persons —

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