Thai cannabis turns Kathmandu airport into a transit route

Related reports

• Seizure14 April 2026🇳🇵 Nepal

  Nepal Police shoot more drug suspects as trafficking rises

  A Kathmandu Post investigation counted 17 police shootings in drug operations in three years: six in 2023/24, two in 2024/25 and seven in 2025/26 by April. Two men were shot in Kathmandu and Rupandehi on 7 April 2026, and 11 of those shot or arrested in the cases were Indian nationals.

• 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.

• 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.