The bureau´s office at New Baneshwar last week arrested Ram Bilash Mehta, 38, proprietor of Kushahawa Medicine Center at Koteshwor, while he was selling Nitrosun from his store. Acting on a special tip-off, police had gone to the store posing as customers to buy the drug. [break]
A case has been filed against Mehta for selling the drug without a doctor´s prescription and he faces a jail term of two to 10 years if proved guilty, according to the bureau. Mehta is also president of CMA Society Nepal and was operating his store only in the mornings and evenings.
At the time of his arrest he was selling 30 tablets of Nitrosun for Rs 1,000 whereas the real cost of the tablets seized is not more than Rs 240. He was selling the drug after erasing its name, police deployed in the operation said.
According to the bureau, about 14,000 to 15,000 medical stores across the country are operating without proper monitoring and regulation.
DIG Kedar Saud, chief of the bureau, said, “It´s the responsibility of the Department of Drug Administration (DDA) under the Ministry of Health [to carry out monitoring].”
Though Gynendra Bahadur Bhuju, chief drug administrator at DDA, admitted that the number of medical monitoring officers is very low, he also claimed that DDA has been able to monitor medical stores across the country.
"We have some five monitoring officers to monitor drug distribution, selling and production as well," he said, adding, "We have made frequent raids to determine if the drugs being sold are at variance with the list provided by DDA.
"At the same time, we have also organized various awareness programs with the cooperation of stakeholders," he said, adding further that they needed more experts and monitoring officers to control the illegal trade in pharmaceuticals.
Meanwhile, the bureau also arrested three men in possession of 20 kg of hashish (charas) from Naagdhunga on May 15.
According to the bureau, the arrested have been identified as Milan Giri, 30, Bikash Karki, 46, and Sharan Bista, 54, of Makawanpur District.
Related story
Substance Abuse: A Growing Problem in Madhesh
