Duo of int'l drug smuggling racket held with 35 kg hashish

KATHMANDU: Nepal Police said two persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in hashish smuggling in the international market and seized 35 kg of contraband from their possession.

A special team deployed from the Narcotics Control Bureau arrested Saiman Tamang (25) and Dhan Bahadur Tamang (37) from Kapan, Budhanilakantha-14 on Sunday. They were paraded at the NCB's office in Kathmandu today.

The haul is worth around Rs 1.05 million in local market, according to police.

Permanent residents of Dumarwana-7 of Bara district and Bumangtang-4 of Nuwakot district respectively, Saiman and Dhan Bahadur were under the police scrutiny since long.

While 30 kg hashish was hidden inside a bag, five kg was inserted between pages of Buddhist scripture books, according to the NCB.

Saiman is said to be a younger brother of another drug smuggling suspect Purna Bahadur Tamang , who was arrested around two months ago. Dhan Bahadur was involved in hashish trading since 2011, police said.

Police investigation showed that Purna Bahadur had been deploying his brother Saiman for drugs smuggling for last three years.

Dhan Bahadur, on the other hand, had smuggled hashish to as far as Holland and Hong Kong. He had brought the Buddhist scripture books from India to hide the drug.