Hem Dulal

Kathmandu, February 28:

The list of Nepalis arrested in foreign nations shows that a considerable number of Nepalis are working for international drug syndicates. The Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU) at New Baneshwor, however, said the number of Nepalis arrested in foreign countries on charges of dealing with drugs is decreasing. Only five Nepalis were arrested in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Colombo and Thailand in 2004 whereas the number was 27 in 2003. Most of them were arrested from Bangkok and Frankfurt airports. The NDCLEU said 16 Nepalis were nabbed at Karachi, Jurich and Los Angels in 2002. The number was 59 in 2000 and most of them were held in India and Pakistan.

“Records show Nepalis are arrested mainly for trafficking hashish. They are rarely arrested with heroin,” said Hemanta Malla, SP at NDCLEU. Some persons are made to traffic drugs by frauds. “Frauds force youths to traffic drugs across to another country by promising them to provide visa and money,” Malla said. “However, in some cases drug peddlers are learnt to have involved themselves in the illegal work for money,” he added. Meanwhile, the NDCLEU said most of the people trafficking hashish are from Dhading, Nuwakot, Gorkha, Lamjung and Manang districts, whereas people from Nuwakot, Gorkha, Tanahu and Lamjung are found to have been involved in heroin smuggling. “Eighty per cent of hashish is smuggled by people from Dhading,” claimed a police official at the NDCLEU. “People between the ages of 25 and 35 are found to have been involved in drug smuggling. Most of the drug peddlers are Mongolian males,” the police official said.

‘Nepal a major drug transit route’

Kathmandu: The International Narcotic Control Board has defined Nepal as the major transit route for heroin and hashish. “Nepal is a major transit route for heroin and hashish. Drugs trafficked through India often find their way to Nepal from where it is flown to other destinations. Large scale cannabis cultivation is reported in rural areas. Abuse of hashish is widespread and that of heroin is spreading,” recently published report by the INCB stated.

“Nepal is a source country for hashish and marijuana among other South Asian countries,” SP Hemanta Malla at the NDCLEU, said. Malla added that drug traffickers basically use Pakistan-Kathmandu-Singapore- Indonesia transit route to carry drugs. — HNS