By A Staff Reporter, Kathmandu, May 31: Recent cases have shown that smugglers have been active in trafficking cannabis from Nepal to India.

Similarly, smuggling of pharmaceutical drugs and brown sugar has also increased from India to Nepal.Recently, the law enforcement agency seized over 500 kilograms of cannabis which was en-route to India from different parts of Nepal.

On Sunday morning, the Sunsari District Police confiscated 165 kilograms cannabis from Ward 8 of Koshi Rural Municipality. They arrested 40-year-old Ganesh Yadav with the cannabis while it was kept at the road to take to the nearby border area to smuggle it to India.

According to the senior officials at the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of Nepal, smuggling of cannabis has increased from Nepal to India with its rising demand in India and increasing production in Nepal.

“Authorities have been destroying the cannabis plants in many parts of the country over the years, but it is not enough. There are geographical challenges and lack of manpower due to which a large portion of cannabis production goes unabated,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and chief at the NCB Dilip Singh Choudhary.

Similarly, SSP Choudhary informed that cannabis was smuggled to Nepal within narrow areas as it was produced throughout the country but smugglers reach furthest areas of Nepal to smuggle it to India.

On May 26, Pathlaiya Police Station in Bara district seized 218 kilograms cannabis hidden inside a tanker (Naa 4 Kha 2979) at Jitpur Sub-metropolitan City. They also arrested driver Ghanashyam Giri and co-driver Rajkumar Dawadi.

Upon investigation, it was found that the tanker had arrived in Bara from Kathmandu. It was going to Barauli, India, to fetch petroleum products.

Likewise, on May 27, an Indian national, Pintu Kumar, was arrested with 270 kilograms cannabis hidden inside an Indian truck (NL 01 N 5867) from Chitwan. Kumar, the driver, was arrested by Lothar Police Station from Ward 1 of Rapti Municipality.

When the authorities further investigated, they found that Kumar was planning to take the truck to India via Birgunj.While the smuggling of cannabis to India showed that its consumers have increased there, officers informed that there has been an increase in the consumption of pharmaceutical drugs and chemical drugs such as brown sugar in Nepal.

“The drugs and other illegal items are smuggled as per the demand to the respective places. Recently, cannabis and opium are highly smuggled from Nepal to India and chemical drugs from India to Nepal,” said SSP Choudhary.

In January this year, the NCB had busted a drug smuggling racket by arresting nine individuals from Kathmandu and the Eastern Region of Nepal.

They were arrested with 536.5 gram brown sugar which was smuggled to Nepal from India.SSP Choudhary stressed that the authorities were not able to conduct operations like before due to the pandemic but the police units across the country were compensating for it.“We mostly conduct covert operation but due to the pandemic and restriction order, it has been difficult but the smugglers continue the illegal business despite any hurdles.