Kathmandu, March 28

Eight days after the Narcotics Control Bureau made the biggest-ever single seizure of opium, the narco cops have arrested a person with 1.4 four kilograms of the hard drug.

A press release issued by the NCB said Ram Bahadur Tamang, 29, of Gajuri-8, Dhading, was held in possession of opium from Balkhu yesterday. Tamang is said to be involved in the production and supply of opium for the past few years.

On March 1, the NCB had arrested three persons with four kilograms of opium from the outskirts of Kathmandu which officials said was the biggest haul in Nepal so far. Opium is the dried latex obtained from opium poppy which contains morphine, an alkaloid used to produce heroin.

According to NCB, some people are found to have been engaged in cultivation of opium poppy instead of cereals to make illegal money. This has resulted in massive decline in the cultivation of traditional crops. NCB said high price of opium was the main reason that had led to increase in the cultivation of opium poppy in parts of Tarai and central region, mainly Makawanpur, Rautahat, Bara and Parsa. Opium sells at more than Rs 50,000 per kg in the illegal market of Nepal, but the price depends on buyers and sellers.

Narco cops have taken initiatives to destroy opium poppy before its harvest. However, it is a Herculean task for the law enforcement agency to prevent its cultivation. Geographical remoteness and economic backwardness of the rural people are major factors in illicit cultivation of poppy and marijuana, NCB warned.