Kathmandu, September 6

Police arrested Kumar Singh Tamang, 30, of Khainyabas Rural Municipality-4, with five kilograms of hashish from Tribhuvan International Airport on July 14. The hard drug was being trafficked to Bangkok.

Nepal Police said there was a long list of drug smugglers and peddlers like Tamang, who were arrested in the fiscal 2017-18. Senior Superintendent of Police Shailesh Thapa Kshetri, Nepal Police spokesperson, said there was an alarming rise in drug smuggling in the country in the fiscal 2017-18. The law enforcement agency filed 3,088 cases against the traffickers compared to 2,467 the previous fiscal, an increase by 22.35 per cent.

Statistics released by the security agency shows that as many as 4,754 persons were held with drugs throughout the country in the fiscal 2017-18. Of them, 4,41 are males while 189 other are females and 149 foreigners. Police seized 4,208 kg marijuana, 1,359 kg hashish, one kg brown sugar, 39 kg opium, four kg cocaine, 194,642 tablets of psychotropic drugs, 197,026 ampoules of injectable drugs, 4,230 bottles of corex, 112 syringes and 40 grams yaba, among others.

SSP Keshetri said Nepal Police Headquarters had launched a ‘’No Drugs and Alcohol Control’’ special campaign in line with the Home Administration Reforms Action Plan, 2017. “We have stepped up crackdown on production, smuggling, peddling, storage, possession and abuse of illicit drugs. The Narcotics Control Bureau is actively engaged in dismantling national and transnational drug rackets,” he informed.

Earlier, the government had observed that prevention of drug smuggling and abuse would be an effective investment for the well-being of those addicted to drugs, their families and communities. Nepal is being used by international drug trafficking rings as a transit to push hard drugs, including cocaine and heroin, to destination countries while the growing abuse of psychoactive substances and injectable drugs has emerged as a big problem in the country. The annual growth rate of drug users is 11.36 per cent, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“Though the government is doing its best to control supply, lack of awareness among people about health, economic and social consequences of drug abuse continue to plague the nation. If the demand for drugs decreases, it will automatically discourage racketeers,” the MoHA warned.

SSP Kshetri said police, in association with various organisations, local levels and civil society, was also conducting awareness programmes against drug abuse across the country. Illegal trade and use of drugs has not only affected social and economic structures but also contributed to rise in crimes. Around 70 per cent of social crimes in the country are related to drug and alcohol addiction.