Police have arrested six people, including two Indian nationals, for their alleged involvement in procuring and selling contraband drugs.

According to the police, the individuals were arrested from Kathmandu and Jhapa districts.

The Narcotics Control Bureau in a press conference held on Sunday made public 22-year-old Shiva Ghosh and 26-year-old Shyamali Soren of Sonapinty in Darjeeling of West Bengal, India; Kiran Kandangwa, 27; Bijay Limbu, 28, of Birtamod Municipality; and Binod Limbu and Madhav Meche of Jhapa’s Mechi Municipality. Police have recovered 312.5 grams of brown heroin from the individuals.

The bureau on Tuesday had arrested Kandangwa after unravelling a network of individuals involved in the procurement and sale of the contraband.

The police had launched ‘Step in Operation’ campaign to track down the contraband trade in Kathmandu Valley.

The police on May 23 arrested Kandangwa in possession of 20 grams of brown heroin, from a hotel in Tusal, Baudha in Kathmandu Metropolitan City. The police also confiscated a digital scale and Rs740,000 from the Kandangwa.

According to Superintendent of Police Chakra Raj Joshi, also the spokesperson for the bureau, Bijay was arrested with 94 grams of brown heroin from Shambhu Marga in the metropolis on Thursday following an investigation after the arrest of Kandangwa.

Joshi informed that police arrested Meche from Chandragadhi of Jhapa district the same day, while the two Indian nationals—Ghosh and Soren—were arrested in possession of 194 grams of 540 milligrams of brown heroin from Bhadrapur in the district on Friday.

Joshi said that those arrested from Jhapa have been handed over to District Police Office, Jhapa for further investigation.

Senior Superintendent of Police Govinda Thapaliya, chief at the Narcotics Control Bureau, said that Indian drug peddlers are taking advantage of the open border to smuggle contraband to Jhapa and use Nepalis to operate the business in the Capital and other regions. Police said that the six people who were arrested were not consumers but only traders.

Police have launched an investigation against the arrested individuals under the Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 1976 by extending their custody from the Kathmandu and Jhapa district courts.

Similarly, on May 23, the bureau had also arrested Temba Sherpa, 42, of Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality in Sindhupalchok, from the Tribhuvan International Airport in possession of 3.6kg hashish. Sherpa was arrested during the security check as he was preparing to board a flight to Thailand.