Chencho Dema | Punakha  

Punakha police last week detained two men, aged 26 and 27, in two separate cases of illicit drug trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (NDPS).

They are from Tsento gewog in Paro and Bumdeling gewog in Tashiyangtse.

The 27-year-old was detained on February 15 after an informant called the Khuruthang traffic police that the suspect was in possession of the controlled substances.




Police recovered 192 pieces of Spasmo-Proxyvon Plus (SP+) capsule and five pieces of Nitrosun 10 tablet (N10) from the suspect’s vehicle (Baleno).

The suspect, according to the police, had loosened the cover of the gearbox and hid the contraband.

When questioned, the suspect said that he had travelled to Jaigaon four days prior (February 11) to purchase the contrabands, which were allegedly intended for personal consumption.




The suspect spent Nu 5,600 on two boxes of SP+ and Nu 800 on a sheet of N10.

The suspect was able to pass through the pedestrian terminal in Phuentsholing as well as two integrated checkpoints—one in Wangkha in Chukha and another in Rinchending in Phuentsholing—without being detected with the contraband.

The suspect tested positive for benzodiazepines and tramadol which revealed that the suspect had abused SP+ and N10.




The suspect is a former monk and is unemployed. The case was forwarded to OAG yesterday.

Meanwhile, the 26-year-old from Bumdeling gewog in Trashiyangtse was arrested on the morning of February 17 while conducting routine drug checking in Barp gewog, Punakha.

The police discovered 144 pieces of SP+ in the dashboard of his car.

The suspect told police that his friend in Jaigaon concealed the contraband in the vehicle which was ferrying in vegetables.




The driver, who the suspect did not know, allegedly hid the contraband at the back of a bulldozer next to the parking lot in Phuenstholing, and the suspect carried it in his sister’s car from there. He spent Nu 21,000 on the 10 boxes of SP+.

He admitted to hiding seven boxes of SP+ at his wife’s house in Tekizampa in Wangdue and giving one box each to two friends.

The police discovered 1,246 pieces of SP+ in the suspect’s wife’s house.




During a rapid drug test, the suspect tested positive.

The suspect is a former army soldier and is unemployed. He has been charged for illicit trafficking of NDPS.

The Punakha police reported 135 people arrested for drug-related offenses between 2020 and 2022.