Crime: Thimphu police detained a 45-year-old man for possessing 12 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup on February 7.

The controlled substances were seized from the man’s house in Changjiji in Thimphu at around 3pm.

Police also seized 720 capsules of Spasmo-proxyvon (SP) from a 25-year-old man on the same day.

Upon interrogation, the man confessed that he got the capsules from his ex-wife (36), a businesswoman. Meanwhile, the woman claimed that she got the capsules from the 45-year-old man.

Upon investigation, police learned that another two women in Mongar are involved in the illicit trafficking of the capsules.

The two women who are under detention in Gyelpoizhing will be escorted to Thimphu for further investigation.

The 45-year-old man, who is the husband of one of the women allegedly involved in the illicit trafficking has been released on surety after his wife and others involved in the case claimed that he is innocent.

The case is under investigation.

On February 6, based on tip-off, Thimphu police detained a 26-year-old man after seizing 544 capsules of SP from the alleged suspect’s house located above the centenary farmer’s market in Thimphu.

The alleged suspect who is unemployed tested positive for the controlled substances.

The Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act of Bhutan (NDPSAA) 2015 states that illegal possession of all controlled narcotics and psychotropic substances could result in an offense of misdemeanour if the quantity is less than the limit determined in the Act but fails to produce a prescription from a registered physician for licit use.

However, illicit trafficking such as possession, imports, exports, stores, sales, purchases, transports, distributes, or supplies would land a prison term of first to a fourth degree felony depending on the quantity, according to the Act.

Dechen Tshomo