Nepal Police shoot more drug suspects as trafficking rises

Related reports

• Seizure23 July 2026🇳🇵 Nepal

  Police seize 3.3 tonnes of cannabis in Saptari

  On the night of 23 July 2026 police in Saptari stopped three vehicles at Tilathi Koiladi-5 and found 3,332 kg of cannabis packed in 100 sacks. The drivers fled and no arrests were reported. It was one of the largest single cannabis seizures in Nepal, in a period when police reported a record 51,439 kg seized in the previous fiscal year.

• Seizure20 May 2025🇳🇵 Nepal

  Thai cannabis turns Kathmandu airport into a transit route

  In the year to mid-April 2025, police seized 114.8 kg of cannabis at Tribhuvan International Airport, up from 540 grams the year before and 36 grams in 2022. Most came in suitcases on flights from Thailand, where legalisation had made strong indoor-grown cannabis easy to buy, and investigators said the destination was India.

• Seizure18 June 2003🇳🇵 Nepal

  A US cable details the cannabis trade and Maoist taxes

  A confidential US embassy cable from June 2003 reported that Nepal was a source country for cannabis sold in India and for hashish sent to North America, Europe and South-East Asia. The Narcotic Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit told the embassy that Maoist insurgents levied a tax of up to 35 percent on cannabis cultivation and transport, and that trucks could hide 500-700 kg.

• Seizure16 November 2001🇳🇵 Nepal

  Maoists tax cannabis as police leave Makwanpur

  In the Maoist-held villages of north-western Makwanpur, police had stopped patrolling and farmers turned to cannabis as their main cash crop. A Nepali Times report said the Maoists had first declared the area a marijuana-free zone, then allowed the trade in exchange for a cut. Police had seized 8,000 kg of cannabis and destroyed the crop on 74.5 hectares the year before.