"Five smugglers were arrested in possession of a huge quantity of hasish. They were trying to bring the contraband to Kathmandu," said DIG Yadav Raj Adhikari, chief of NDCLEU. [break]
Those arrested have been identified as Raj Kumar Rumba, 30, Dinesh Kumar Rumba, 27, Hira Lal Negi, 34, and Bishal Rumba, 30, and were produced before the media persons at a press conference on Sunday. All of them hail from Makawanpur. The police confiscated the contraband from them.
DIG Adhikari informed the smugglers may have fetched hasish to Kathmandu to smuggle it to lucrative foreign markets. "Initial investigation suspects the hashish was destined for Europe and America but we are yet to confirm this," DIG Adhikari said.
The hasish, cultivated in Makawanpur, was packed in 15 boxes, then wrapped inside sacks, and was loaded in a hired vehicle. The raw hasish was found semi-processed. "The confiscated hasish has already been mixed with resin.
The smugglers may have tried to fetch the contraband to Kathmandu for full processing by mixing it with various other chemicals," said SSP Nawaraj Silwal, deputy chief at NDCLEU, adding, "The smugglers planned to mix chemicals in hasish in Kathmandu after calculating the risk and to minimize the cost."
Pharmaceutical drugs - a threat in Kathmandu
The police on Feb 2 arrested Puspa Lal Shrestha, 22, and Niraj Thapa, 22, both pharmaceutical drug users, along with Madan Prasad Bhattarai, a pharmaceutical shop owner at Kapurdhara, Kathmandu, who tried to sell prescription drugs without a doctor´s prescription.
Aiet Singh Thing, 26, was arrested from Tinkune, Kathmandu, for possessing illegal pharmaceutical drugs on Feb 3. The police have confiscated 4,000 pieces ampul, 2,000 Bufrinarphin and 2,000 pieces of Digepam kept inside a petrol tanker.
Similarly, the police have detained Ram Prabesh Yadav from Halchowk on Jan 30 for possessing 3,800 pieces of ampul 2,000 Bufrinarphin and 1,800 pieces of Digepam. The drug was found in a night bus with registration number NA 4 Kha 6134.
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