KATHMANDU, Feb 4: In a recent bust on a drug smuggling racket, a Nepal Police squad deployed from the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recently busted a drug smuggling racket and foiled its plan to smuggle 90.56 kg of hashish to foreign countries by concealing the drug inside hemp shoes and hard covers of books.
Like other smugglers using bizarre methods to avoid detection from the watchful eyes of law enforcement agencies, 58-year-old Dil Bahadur Gurung opted to conceal the drug in large quantity by replacing the mid-soles of locally-made hemp shoes with skillfully prepared hashish plates.
The alleged mastermind Gurung of Bandipur-7 of Tanahun district was found to be involved in drug smuggling earlier too. He was charged for the crime and had served jail terms before being released on bail about two years ago.
Tipped off by a special source, the police squad raided a rented house of Gurung's accomplices in Narayan Chowk of Budhanilkantha, Kathamandu on Monday and seized the huge amount of hashish ready to be concealed inside the shoes and hard covers of books related to Buddhism in order to be exported to foreign lands. According to the NCB, the gang of five, who were arrested during the raid, was involved in carrying the drugs in disguise via land route to India and then supply them to international market via courier.
Hashish is an extracted product composed of compressed or purified preparations of stalked resin glands from the cannabis plant. “As per the growing demand in the illegal international market, Gurung had prepared to smuggle the contraband to India, Canada, Italy, China and Hong Kong among other places,” DIG Keshari Raj Ghimire, chief of the NCB, said while briefing the media on Wednesday.
The 'cleverest' mission failed with the arrest of Gurung and his four accomplices, who have been identified as Akkal Bahadur Tamang, 35, of Bungtang in Nuwakot, Dhan Bahadur Gurung, 30, Nara Bahadur Gurung, 31, and Herman Tamang. The latter three are originally from Dhading district.
The preliminary investigation of the police shows that Akkal Bhadur was found involved in mediating with the mastermind and handling the lower ring. Dhan Bahadur and Nara Bahadur were involved in transporting the shoes and Buddhism related books in disguise to India via land routes and Herman was found involved in crafty packing.
As per the deal, the ones involved in carrying the drugs-laden shoes and Buddhism book to India would be paid about Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 per trip and the one involved in packing would be paid Rs 5,000 per kg.
“It looked like a showroom but later it turned out to be a hashish hub,” a police involved in the raid explained. Police also seized a machine to prepare hashish plates, different equipment that were used for attaching the soles and hard covers of the books.
Dil Bahadur, who was jailed for eight years in the past, was active in drug smuggling since 2013 with the support from other accomplices. After three successful shipments, the gang was busted on its fourth attempt to smuggle the drug as per the deal made few months back.
Investigations have revealed that Dil Bahadur used to travel to India several times in the past two years and smuggle hashish in smaller amount via Mahendranagar.
The NCB has been informed that a consignment of 4-5 kg of hashish is on the way to Italy. “We have informed the concerned police authorities about the consignment but we have not heard anything in return,” SSP Ganesh KC of the NCB said. “It is one of the achievements of the NCB to bust the racket of organized drug smugglers walking scot-free repeatedly,” he added.
The police said that the current illegal market price of hashish in Nepal is Rs 30,000 per kg but the price is unimaginably high once it gets to its destination.
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