On July 14, police arrested three men in possession of narcotics from Belauri Municipality-10. The Belauri Area Police arrested the three men following an anonymous tip. The police recovered 330 milligrams of brown sugar from the duo.

According to the District Police Office Kanchanpur, they arrested 19-year-old Dipak Air and 23-year-old Prakash Air of Jhalari, Shuklaphanta Municipality-8, and a 17-year-old boy of Dodhara Chandani Municipality-2.

Similarly, on Monday, the Belauri Area Police also arrested a 22-year-old man named Philip Rana of Khiriya, Belauri-3, who was also under the influence of and in possession of narcotic substances. The police also recovered 3.1 milligrams of brown heroin from Rana, who was very intoxicated when the police booked him.

Belauri municipality, in the southern part of Kanchanpur district, has become a transit point for drugs. Every other day police have been making at least two arrests in Belauri. The municipality shares an open border with India and is the preferred route for drug traffickers, said police.

Illegal narcotics that are sold in the Indian markets of Paliya, Sampurna Nagar, Khajuriya, and Tilla Number Char, among other places, usually enter Nepal through Belauri Municipality, said Jograj Chaudhary, deputy mayor of Belauri Municipality. “Young locals and people from other areas go to these markets to buy and use drugs. Traffickers also use young people as carriers to transport drugs from the border,” said Chaudhary.

“Every year 200 to 300 people get arrested in drug-related cases in the district, and most of the culprits are residents of Bhimdatta Municipality, Dodhara Chandani Municipality, Punarbas Municipality, and Belauri Municipality,” said DSP Prakash Dangi of the district police office.

According to the data of the District Police Office Kanchanpur, in the fiscal year 2022–23, at least 282 people were arrested in drugs-related cases in the district. Among the arrested, 255 were male, 13 were female, and 14 were Indian nationals. Among the 282 individuals arrested, 89 were from Belauri Municipality, and out of those 89 people, 54 were under the age of 19.

“A couple of years ago drug traffickers were mainly arrested from the Gaddachauki border point of the district, but these days traffickers have moved their transit point to Belauri Municipality,” said Dangi.

According to the annual report of the district police office, around 26 kilograms of hashish, 550 grams of brown heroin, and various other types of illegal narcotics such as Nitravet and Phenergan were seized from the 282 arrested persons in the fiscal year 2022-23.

Chaudhary said that drug-related activities have contributed to a rise in gang wars in the area. A gunfight ensued between drug traffickers and police personnel in Belauri some three years ago when the latter was trying to make arrests, he said.

“At that time, a trafficker who was on the most wanted list of Nepali police was shot and killed in crossfire,” said Chaudhary.

Bhimdatta Municipality, Dodhara Chandani Municipality, Punarbas Municipality, and Belauri Municipality of Kanchanpur share 129.5 kilometres of open border with India, and most of the drugs are trafficked to Nepal from the bordering villages.

“We have been conducting awareness and monitoring programmes for so many years, but we have not been able to reduce the cases of drug use in the municipality. However, we have had some success in controlling trafficking. Three years ago, drugs used to get transported in big quantities, but nowadays drug mules are captured with only small amounts of drugs,” said Chaudhary. “We plan to conduct awareness campaigns in schools from next week to control drug use among the youth. If we can manage to prevent the youth from using drugs, then it would be very easy to win the fight against drugs,” he added.