Police on Thursday arrested Mashkoor Ahmad Lari, the chairman of the now closed Everest Hotel, from Maharajgunj in Kathmandu in a drug smuggling case dating back to 1997.

Authorities in Germany had recovered a parcel containing drugs at Frankfurt Airport.

The parcel, which was being sent to the Netherlands, was allegedly sent by Lari from Thamel, Kathmandu.

The case, however, was put on a hold for several years due to alleged connections of Lari with influential politicians in Nepal. The case was reopened in 2011 by the Kathmandu District Court and an arrest warrant was issued against Lari.

SSP Rabindra Dhanuk, chief of Metropolitan Police Range at Teku, said Lari was presented before the District Court on Thursday itself.

The court has started recording Lari’s statement, he added.

Lari’s arrest comes just days after the Supreme Court issued a verdict regarding Everest Hotel ownership in his favour.

The hotel has remained closed since the 2015 earthquake.