Kathmandu, July 31

The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested a ‘most wanted’ drug dealer with 7,120 tablets of amphetamine, the biggest single seizure of yaba in Nepal.

DIG Thule Rai, NCB in-charge, said Jay Prasad Limbu, 39, of Mayanglung Municipality-7, Terhathum, was held with the drug from Maharajgunj yesterday. “Limbu was active in yaba smuggling and trade of drug by using Siliguri, India, as its base to expand his network and was most wanted by NCB,” he informed.

According to NCB, Myanmar is one of the biggest producers of yaba or ice and the drug was snuggled into Nepal from India via the Nepal-India border. The seized drug weighs 682 grams which sells at approximately Rs 20 million in the international illegal drug market. NCB said Yubaraj Subedi of Jhapa and Raj Bajra Lama were held with 20 tablets of yaba from Boudhha on July 26.

They had been absconding after the April 23 arrest of Mukhiya Gurung with 40 grams yaba from Kathmandu. The duo had also links to Limbu for illict trade and transportation of yaba. NCB said amphetamine is a strong synthetic stimulant drug that is manufactured by pharmaceutical companies for medical uses and by illicit laboratories for illicit trading. It is a drug that is used as stimulant and appetite suppressant.

The drug stimulates a person to greater wakefulness and energy, bypassing the body’s usual pathways for creating energy. Yaba, also known as the madness drug, is a combination of a number of stimulants. The two main substances that make up the drug are caffeine and methamphetamine.