Kathmandu. The police have arrested a Malaysian citizen with about six kilos of what appears to be cocaine.
The special team of District Police Complex Kathmandu and the joint team of Lainchaur Police Department today arrested a 47-year-old Malaysian woman, Bathumlai Bhadivalo, from Kathmandu City Hotel in Thamel.
The police recovered five kilos of eight hundred and twenty grams of cocaine from Bhadivalo’s possession. The Police Complex Kathmandu released the woman along with the seized drugs through a press conference here today.
Senior Superintendent of Police Vasant Rajourey informed that the preliminary investigation revealed that the woman made ‘false bottoms’ in six school bags and brought them into Nepal via Bangkok, Thailand. The estimated value of the seized drugs is Rs 203.7 million, the police said.
The police raided the hotel based on specific information that drug dealing was taking place. The woman arrived in Laos from Malaysia on July 12, 2024, and came to Kathmandu from Laos on July 13 via Bangkok, Thailand at 11:25 at night. According to the police, an air ticket to return from Kathmandu to Malaysia on July 19 was found with him.
Police suspect that the arrested woman brought cocaine from Laos or Thailand. The sender of the cocaine is believed to be in Laos or Thailand and the recipient is in India. According to the police, another person for whom the woman worked as a ‘mediator’ may have come from India to take Kathmandu.
“The preliminary investigation has revealed that the woman has come to Nepal five/six times”, said Senior Superintendent of Police Rajourey, “Kathmandu has been used as a ‘transit’ and an investigation is underway.” He said that because the arrested woman only speaks the Malaysian language, further investigation has become more complicated.
It is suspected that the woman is going to send the cocaine to India by making Kathmandu ‘transit’. According to the police, the search for the person who came to get the cocaine has been intensified. Senior Superintendent of Police Rajourey said that the investigation has been widened with the conclusion that the woman, who was arrested with drugs of great consequence, may have been transporting drugs when she came to Nepal many times before.
