This situation became visible after Area Police Office of Kakarvitta on Saturday seized 2,275 kg of betel nuts while being illegally transported to India. Police have handed over the seized betel nuts to the costums office there.[break]
Inspector Sukdev Khanal confirmed that police seized the betel nuts while they were being smuggled to India in rickshaws and motorcycles. "Now smugglers have started to smuggle betel nuts in small amounts," Khanal said.
Some Indian laborers are involved in smuggling, according to a police source. Police confirmed that one Indian laborer, Bimal Barman, who was arrested recently confessed to police that he had been carrying Nepal-imported betel nuts for a person from Naxalbari, India.
Police, a month ago, had started a campaign to stop the illegal export of betel nuts to India.
The Eastern Regional Police Office has deployed a team of 40 police under DSP Govinda Thapa along the eastern border in order to stop betel nuts smuggling. Police claimed smuggling cases have gone down substantially after the deployment of police on the border.
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