NCB officials say drug control efforts are hindered by limited authority, the lack of body screening machines, and reliance on tip-offs from immigration officials.
KATHMANDU, Dec 27: On December 1, a team of police officials stationed at the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) arrested Chilian Kerubo Ogito, 30, from Kenya, in possession of 6.2 kilograms of cocaine stuffed into capsules that were in turn stuffed into a teddy bear which she had hidden in her hand-carry luggage. This was the largest drug haul of the year as the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB) of Nepal Police determined the market value of the seized contraband to be as much as Rs 217 million.
The first drug bust of the month was not an isolated case. Nepal has emerged as a transit hub for the trafficking of the illegal drug cocaine destined for ‘collection centers’ in various parts of India. In the last one year alone, police seized more of the drug than it seized in the preceding four years.
As per data maintained by the NCB, police seized as much as 30.129 kilograms of the drug worth around Rs 1.05 billion in 2024. The amount is more than the total of 21.278 kilograms of cocaine worth around Rs 745 million seized in Nepal from 2020 to 2023. Police seized 11.885 kilograms of cocaine worth around Rs 416 million in 2023, 5.648 kilograms worth around Rs 198 million in 2022, 1.513 kilograms worth Rs 53 million in 2021 and 2.232 kilograms worth around Rs 78 million in 2020.
According to the NCB, most of the cocaine smuggled into Nepal is destined for India. Superintendent of Police (SP) Rameshwar Karki, spokesperson for the NCB, told Republica that there is a significantly low number of cocaine users in Nepal due to the exorbitant price of this illegal drug and investigation into all of the cocaine busts till date have revealed that the individuals arrested were carriers destined for India.
The Crisis of Cocaine Trafficking thru Nepal
“Our investigation into the cases of cocaine busts have revealed that the cocaine seized in Nepal is all destined for collection centers in India,” SP Karki said, “In most of the cases the kingpins of these operations, be it in South America or India, are Nigerian nationals.”
SP Karki informed Republica that the drug originating in Latin American countries, Bolivia and Colombia in particular, is smuggled to Nepal via two routes: either directly via a transit in Dubai or Doha, or through a first transit in African countries such as Ethiopia, Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa and a second transit in Doha or Dubai. He added that Doha in particular is a major transit for the drug trafficked to Nepal.
What is hindering efforts to combat drug smuggling?
One of the major problems for the NCB in the drug control operation is rooted in the policy level. Currently, Nepal Police have no authority to either screen passengers inbound from foreign countries or check their luggage. In such a scenario, police have to limit their drug control operation at the TIA to monitoring the passenger list and depending on the immigration officials for tip-off on suspicious individuals.
“For the most part of its operations, NCB depends on tip-offs from immigration officials about suspicious individuals entering Nepal,” SP Karki told Republica, “And we started monitoring the passenger list starting from this year.”
According to him, the initiation of monitoring of passenger lists is the major reason behind the increase in cocaine busts in 2024. He added that the tell-tale signs of drug carriers is their nationality and the duration of their visit to Nepal.
“We look for African nationals and Latin American nationals and check their duration of stay in Nepal,” SP Karki said, “If individuals from these origins intend to stay in Nepal for 2-3 days and do not venture out of their hotel rooms, it tells us that they are not here for exploring Nepal as a tourist.”
However, cocaine traffickers seem to have identified the monitoring method of the NCB to attempt newer strategies to smuggle the drug to Nepal. Since the NCB is majorly focused on monitoring individuals from African and Latin American countries, smugglers have started using carriers from other nations to carry cocaine to Nepal.
On August 7, a team of police officials arrested Ivars Valters, 51, from Latvia in possession of 6.024 kilograms of cocaine worth around Rs 210 million stuffed in capsules that were concealed in his hand-carry luggage. SP Karki noted that the use of an European national as a carrier for the drug was a surprising case for the NCB.
SP Karki emphasized the need for new mechanisms such as body screening equipment for illegal drugs and mobilization of police officials for those screenings. “If we were to install body screening devices at the TIA, we would have an even higher success rate at nabbing the smugglers,” he said.
In addition, a policy-level change allowing police officials to be stationed at the immigration could also help combat drug smuggling. In absence of such a necessary mechanism, SP Karki expressed hope that the increased number of cocaine busts in Nepal in 2024 will discourage the drug traffickers to use Nepal as a transit for cocaine.
