Police in Sunsari district have seized more than 574 kilograms of marijuana from an ambulance stopped on the Koshi Highway near the Budhi Khola in Duhabi Municipality-6. The operation, carried out on the basis of a tip-off, intercepted the vehicle as it travelled from Itahari toward Biratnagar. Information Officer Chandra Bahadur Khadka of the District Police Office, Sunsari, confirmed the seizure, adding that the ambulance driver and others involved in the smuggling are at large.
Tip-off led police to ambulance near Budhi Khola
According to police, information that narcotics were being moved along the highway prompted the checking operation. A team deployed near the Budhi Khola in Duhabi Municipality-6 stopped the ambulance, which bore the registration number Na 4 Cha 6063 and carried a 'Nepal-India Cooperation' sticker on its body. A search of the vehicle revealed the large consignment of marijuana concealed inside, as reported by RatoPati.
The seized drugs have been described as weighing more than 574 kilograms, or over five quintals, with one quintal equalling 100 kilograms. The District Police Office, Sunsari, made the details public through its Information Officer, Chandra Bahadur Khadka. The seizure was also reported by Nepal Press and Khabarhub.
Key details of the seizure are as follows:
- Narcotic seized: more than 574 kilograms of marijuana, described as over five quintals
- Vehicle: ambulance bearing registration number Na 4 Cha 6063
- Distinctive detail: a 'Nepal-India Cooperation' sticker displayed on the ambulance
- Location of interception: near the Budhi Khola, Duhabi Municipality-6, Sunsari
- Highway: Koshi Highway
- Direction of travel: from Itahari toward Biratnagar
- Status of suspects: driver and others involved in the smuggling are at large
Ambulance with 'Nepal-India Cooperation' sticker stopped on busy corridor
The use of an ambulance to move such a large consignment has drawn particular attention. Ambulances are widely associated with medical service and emergency response, and vehicles of this kind do not ordinarily attract the same scrutiny as trucks or cargo vans at highway checkpoints. The presence of a 'Nepal-India Cooperation' sticker further added to the vehicle's official appearance as it travelled along one of eastern Nepal's busiest routes. Police have not said whether the sticker was authentic or how the vehicle came to display it.
The route itself is significant. Itahari, located in Sunsari district, is one of the major highway junctions of the eastern Tarai, while Biratnagar is a large commercial hub of Koshi Province that lies close to the Indian border. Police said the marijuana was being transported from Itahari toward Biratnagar when the ambulance was intercepted, placing the seizure on a corridor that ends near the international boundary.
Driver and accomplices remain at large as search continues
No arrests had been reported as of the latest statements from the District Police Office. Khadka said the ambulance driver and others involved in the smuggling are at large, and efforts are under way to trace them. Both the narcotics and the ambulance were seized during the operation.
Investigators will now look to establish where the consignment originated, who arranged it, and who was meant to receive it further along the route. Those questions remain unanswered for as long as the driver and his associates stay out of police reach, and further details of the case are expected to emerge only as the investigation progresses.
Cannabis trade persists along the eastern Tarai
Nepal outlawed the cultivation, sale and consumption of cannabis under the Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, 2033 (1976), and trafficking in the drug remains a punishable offence, with penalties that increase with the quantity involved. Despite the decades-old ban, marijuana produced in Nepal continues to be smuggled out of the country, much of it headed toward India, with which Nepal shares a long and open border.
Districts of the eastern Tarai, including Sunsari, sit along key transport routes connecting the hills with the plains, and highways such as the Koshi Highway serve as the main arteries for both legal and illegal cargo moving through the region. Police in Tarai districts periodically report seizures of marijuana, often recovered from passenger and private vehicles, and smugglers continually adapt their methods to slip past highway checking points.
What sets the latest case apart is the vehicle involved: an ambulance displaying a cooperation sticker, intercepted with more than half a tonne of cannabis on board. The seizure highlights the scale of the trade that continues to operate through the eastern districts and the challenges police face in intercepting consignments concealed in vehicles that would not normally be suspected of carrying drugs.
Further details, including the identity of the ambulance's owner and the intended recipients of the consignment, had not been made public as of the latest reports, with police saying only that the driver and others involved in the smuggling remain at large.
