Bihar-Based Drug Cartel Caught by Nepal Police

Nepal police intercepted a Bihar-based drug cartel using an ambulance to transport illegal drugs.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

A drug cartel operating from Bihar was recently caught by Nepal police using a hospital ambulance, which had an elderly woman and two small children as cover, to deliver drugs to the Himalayan country.

Details accessed by The Sunday Guardian reveal that the Lalitpur police of Nepal stopped an Indian ambulance bearing registration number BRO5 PA 0421 in the early morning of April 5, near Chapeli, Bhattedanda, Bagmati Rural Municipality-3, Lalitpur district. The ambulance was stopped for a routine vehicle check after being seen speeding from Birgunj towards Kathmandu.

According to official sources, initial investigations revealed that an individual named J.K. Khan, using an Indian phone number, contacted Mohammad Munna Ansari, the owner of the ambulance, instructing him to connect with a person referred to as "Prabhat Dai," later identified as Prabhat Sah, an Indian national. After Ansari reached out, Prabhat informed him that a consignment of illegal drugs—later identified as 94,080 Tramadol capsules—needed to be transported to Kathmandu.

Prabhat emphasized that other vehicles posed a risk of police seizure and that an ambulance with a patient would be necessary to evade detection.

Prabhat assured Ansari that an associate would collect the drugs upon arrival in Kathmandu. Following this, Ansari persuaded his ailing mother-in-law to travel to Kathmandu under the pretext of seeking medical treatment.

An individual sent by Prabhat, referred to as the "boss" in communications, delivered the drugs to Ansari.