With the increasing seizure of Corex cough syrup in different part of the country and nine people arrested in the past two months, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) says heroin users appear to be turning more and more to Corex, a prescription drug.
DIG Keshari Raj Ghimire, chief of NCB, said that the intake of Corex, which is imported from India, has been increasing in Nepal as dug abusers are attracted by the relatively low price.
A squad from NCB arrested two brothers, who hail from Bodhe Barshine-4 of Saptari District, on Friday while they were riding a motorbike at Kalimatidol near Sinamangal. The two have been identified as Imran Hasan Siddhiqi, 23, and 21-year-old Sayed Anwar Siddhiqi.
Police said the elder brother was a chartered accountancy (CA) student at the Chartered Institute of Management Accounts (CIMA) and the younger has been identified as a BBS third year student at New Millennium College.
The two have lived together in Kathmandu for the past few years and claimed that they were into trafficking in Corex to meet their educational expenses, according to police.
According to preliminary investigations, the two spirited the drug to Kathmandu by bus from across the border in Saptari district. A 100 ml bottle of Corex costs about Rs 100 and can easily be sold for Rs 500. By contrast, a dose of heroin, usually equivalent to 1gm, costs more than Rs 2,000 in the illegal market, police further said.
Police on 5th March seized 97 bottles of Corex brought from across the border through Siraha, at Koteshwor. Similarly, on 22nd March, 51 bottles containing 100 ml each were seized at Tinkune. The contraband was brought through Dhangadhi.
"The drug is banned in India but in Nepal anyone can buy it under the counter, in a shocking lack of supervision by regulators," police said.
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