Police have arrested two foreign nationals and sized 4 kg of cocaine worth Rs60 million.
Waranya Kaewpikul, a Thai national was arrested from Tribhuvan International Airport on Tuesday night when she was about to board a flight to Thailand. The drugs was hidden inside a false bottom. A tip-off from Kaewpikul led to the subsequent arrest of Bolivian national Rossy Gueddy Toledo Vallejos from Naxal, Kathmandu.
According to police, Kaewpikul arrived Nepal on August 5 and Vallejos handed over the drugs.
“The Bolivian national handed over the drugs to Kaewpikul on August 7 and was asked to take it to Thailand,” said Deputy Inspector General of Police Jaya Bahadur Chand, chief of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
With the latest arrests, police have seized 24 kilograms of cocaine and apprehended 16 smugglers in the five years. In 2012, police had for the first time seized 1kg of cocaine from a Thai national, Suparerat Mcintosh.
Police said Nigerians remain the main honcho operating in various countries, including Brazil, India, Thailand, China and Nepal. They lure people into being drug mule after offering up to $5,000.
In the case of Bolivian national Vallejos, her travel history shows she had been to Brazil from Bolivia and then flown to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. She then went to New Delhi and flew in to Nepal and was planning to go to Dubai.
According to police, a Nigerian named Remmy had assured around $2,000 to Kaewpikul for her services in transporting the drugs.
On May 25, Nepal Police had arrested members of an international racket involved in smuggling of cocaine into European countries via Nepal. The NDC had arrested Nigerian, Venezuelan, Indian and Nepali nationals with 2.6kg of cocaine.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ganesh KC of the NCB said the smugglers have been using Nepal after the authorities in India stepped up the security there. “Nepal remains a transit destination to hoodwink the security agencies. There is no consumption of this expensive drug in Nepal,” said SSP KC.
Apart from the air route, smugglers have been using land route to take drugs to China via Tibet. The Kerung border point has also been used by smugglers, according to sources at the NCB.
Cocaine is produced in South American nations, including Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, and destined for the markets in the US and Europe. The Nepal route is mostly used to ferry drugs that will later end up in Europe.
15.12°C Kathmandu
