Hetauda, September 4

Indian nationals and vehicles are increasingly being used to smuggle drugs through Makawanpur border, according to the Makawanpur police. The district has an easy access to Bihar, India, which lies just across the border. According to DSP Shishu Sharma of Makawanpur, most of the drug peddlers enter the country through Birgunj-Raxaul entry point pretending to be tourists.

“With the help of local agents, many vehicles collect the illegal drugs cultivated in Makawanpur as well as adjoining districts and ferry them to various towns in India,” informed DSP Sharma, adding, “As the Indian police strictly check vehicles registered in Nepal, shrewd smugglers have taken to using Indian vehicles.”

As per the police report, four Indian vehicles ferrying drugs to India through Birgunj customs were impounded in the fiscal year 2071/72.

In the recent past, Makawanpur police arrested two Indian nationals for drug peddling from Hetauda bazaar.. In the last fiscal alone, they confiscated 1,678 kg marijuana and 1,335 kg heroin.

Local police have been destroying marijuana and poppy cultivation done illegally  in the northern part of the district.