Police in Sunsari district have arrested five people and seized around 210 kilograms of marijuana during an early-morning operation at Chyandanda in Dharam Sub-Metropolitan City-20 on Monday. According to police, the arrests were made at around 3 am when a team caught the suspects in the act of loading a large consignment of cannabis into two Scorpio vehicles. As those involved attempted to flee with the drugs, officers fired two rounds of warning shots into the air, after which all five were taken under control.

Two Warning Rounds Fired as Suspects Tried to Flee

The operation unfolded in the early hours of Monday at Chyandanda, which falls under ward number 20 of Dharam Sub-Metropolitan City in Sunsari district of Koshi Province. A police team that reached the spot found the five individuals busy loading marijuana into two Scorpio vehicles stationed at the site, meaning the arrests were effected before the consignment could be moved.

Police said the situation escalated when the suspects attempted to escape with the load. Officers on duty responded by firing two rounds into the air. The warning shots brought the attempted escape to a halt, and all five people present at the scene were taken under control shortly afterwards, according to accounts of the incident carried by Ratopati and Pradeshkhabar.

The timing of the raid, shortly after 3 am, indicates that the group was attempting to move the consignment under the cover of darkness. Because police intercepted the operation at the loading stage itself, both the entire stock of drugs and the two vehicles remained at the site and were taken into control in a single action. Police have not commented on whether the group had made any earlier trips or whether others were involved in the supply chain.

The key developments of the operation, as described by police, can be summarised as follows:

  • Around 3 am on Monday, a police team reached Chyandanda in Dharam Sub-Metropolitan City-20, Sunsari
  • Suspects were found loading approximately 210 kg of marijuana into two Scorpio vehicles
  • As the group attempted to flee with the consignment, police fired two rounds in the air
  • All five suspects were taken under control, and both vehicles were seized from the site

210 kg of Marijuana and Two Scorpio Vehicles Seized

The haul recovered in the operation includes roughly 210 kilograms of marijuana, which the suspects had been transferring into the vehicles when police arrived. In addition, the two Scorpio vehicles, which police believe were being used to ferry the consignment, were also seized from the site and remain under police control.

Police have described the weight of the recovered drugs as an approximate figure. The final quantity is typically confirmed once seized narcotics are formally weighed and documented during investigative procedures, and any update to the figure would come through official channels as the case proceeds.

The Scorpio, a sport utility vehicle widely used across Nepal for both passenger and cargo transport, was the vehicle of choice in this instance as the group allegedly prepared to move the drugs. The seizure of the vehicles alongside the consignment means investigators will also have the means of transport in their custody while establishing the scope of the network.

Arrestees' Identities Yet to Be Made Public

As of Monday morning, police had not made public the names, ages or addresses of the five people taken into custody. Officials have likewise not indicated where the consignment had originated or where it was intended to be delivered, details that generally emerge as questioning of the arrestees progresses.

Further information about the case, including the identities of those arrested and the direction of the investigation, is awaited from authorities. With both the drugs and the transport vehicles in police hands, the five suspects are expected to face action under Nepal's narcotics-related legal provisions as procedures move forward.

Context: Cannabis Seizures Under Nepali Law

Cannabis has been prohibited in Nepal since the 1970s, with its cultivation, sale, consumption and trafficking criminalised under the country's narcotics control legislation. Despite the ban, police forces across the country periodically announce the seizure of large drug consignments, often during raids, highway vehicle checks or operations targeting loading and transfer points.

Monday's operation in Sunsari followed that familiar pattern, with officers intercepting the marijuana at the precise moment it was being loaded for transport rather than after it had begun moving along the road. Intercepting a consignment at this stage allowed the team to secure both the drugs and the vehicles without a prolonged chase, though the suspects' attempt to flee did prompt the use of warning fire.

Sunsari, located in eastern Nepal's Koshi Province, was the setting for this seizure, which ranks among the larger single-haul marijuana recoveries reported in the region in terms of weight. Authorities are expected to release additional details about the five arrestees and the seized consignment as the investigation advances.