HETAUNDA: Police in Makawanpur district said they uncovered a new modus operandi used by drug smugglers in the district.

They recently busted a racked which would hide the contraband in sacks of vegetables like potatoes and onions as well as in quilts.

The three suspects were paraded amid a press conference at the District Police Office in Hetaunda today.

They have been identified as Suresh Shahi (42) from Nepalgunj-12 of Banke, Raju Shahi (24) from Teku of Kathmandu, and Ajit Kumar Shrestha (25) from Bandipur-7 of Tanahun.

Suresh was arrested from a passenger bus (Na 5 Kha 1762) en route to Hetaunda from Birgunj while police stopped it for regular checking at Ratomate, Hetaunda-17.

Raju and Ajit were nabbed from Kathmandu. Raju would buy the drugs from Suresh while Ajit would distribute it in the market, according to police.

All of them were arrested on Friday.

DSP Bamdev Gautam, the DPO spokesperson, said police recovered a huge cache of pharmaceutical drugs from Suresh.

Meanwhile, police impounded a motorbike and a scooter claiming they were used to smuggle the drug.

A laptop, three mobile sets and Rs 67,650 cash were also confiscated.