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DE RUEHKT #1982/01 3190750
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RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 1987
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RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
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RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001982 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL AND SCA/INS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  DRAFT 2007-2008 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS 
CONTROL STRATEGY REPORT (INCSR) PART I 
 
REF: STATE 136780 
 
KATHMANDU 00001982  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶I. Summary 
---------- 
 
¶1.  Although Nepal is neither a significant producer of nor a 
major transit route for narcotic drugs, hashish, heroin and 
domestically produced cannabis are trafficked to and through 
Nepal every year. An increase in the number of Nepalese 
couriers apprehended by the police in 2007 suggests that 
Nepalis are becoming more involved in trafficking. Moreover, 
Nepal's Narcotics Drug Control Law Enforcement Unit (NDCLEU) 
reports that more Nepalese citizens are investing in and 
taking a larger role in running trafficking operations. 
Customs and border controls remain weak, but international 
cooperation has resulted in increased narcotics-related 
indictments in Nepal and abroad. Nepalese officials claim the 
end of the Maoist insurgency has slightly improved 
interdiction and monitoring efforts in previously 
inaccessible parts of the country. The Government of Nepal 
continues to push legislative efforts to increase control 
over the trafficking of precursor chemicals between India and 
China. Nepal is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
--------------------- 
 
¶2.  Police confirm that production of cannabis is on the rise 
in the southern areas of the country, and that most is 
destined for the Indian market. Abuse of locally grown and 
wild cannabis and locally produced hashish, which is marketed 
in freelance operations, remains widespread. Heroin from 
Southwest and Southeast Asia is smuggled into Nepal across 
the open border with India and through Kathmandu's 
international airport. Legal, codeine-based medicines 
continue to be abused. Nepal is not a producer of chemical 
precursors but serves as a transit route for precursor 
traffic between India and China. 
 
¶3.  Monitoring and interdiction efforts have improved since 
the official end in 2006 of the Maoist insurgency, which had 
obstructed rule-of-law and counter narcotic efforts in many 
parts of the country. The NDCLEU reports that the Maoists no 
longer levy a tax of 200 Nepali rupees per kg (approximately 
$3.20 in 2007 U.S. dollars) on cannabis production. 
 
III. Country Actions Against Drugs 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  POLICY INITIATIVES. Nepal's basic drug law is the 
Narcotic Drugs Control Act, 2033 (1976). Under this law, the 
cultivation, production, preparation, manufacture, export, 
import, purchase, possession, sale, and consumption of most 
commonly abused drugs is illegal. The Narcotics Control Act, 
amended last in 1993, conforms in part to the 1961 UN Single 
Convention on Narcotic Drugs and its 1972 Protocol by 
addressing narcotics production, manufacture, sales, import, 
and export. The government is planning to amend the Act to 
incorporate provisions for psychotropic substances, demand 
reduction, treatment and rehabilitation. 
 
¶5.  In 2006, the Home Ministry updated the ten-year-old 
Narcotics Control National Policy. Noting the growing 
incidence of HIV infection among narcotic-using sex workers, 
abuse of narcotics and psychotropic medicines among youth, 
and illicit trafficking by organized mafia, the new policy 
attempts to address these concerns in a more "transparent and 
enforceable" manner. It consists of five strategies to 
control drug production, abuse and trafficking: (1) supply 
control, (2) demand reduction (treatment and rehabilitation 
and drug abuse prevention), (3) risk reduction, (4) research 
and development, and (5) collaboration and resource 
mobilization. 
 
¶6.  To ensure institutional support, the updated policy 
called for the creation of a Narcotics Control Bureau in the 
Ministry of Home Affairs that would include the NDCLEU and a 
 
KATHMANDU 00001982  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
special Nepal Police Task Force trained in counter narcotics. 
As of November 2007, this Bureau has yet to be made 
functional. In addition, the policy established a high-level 
narcotics control national guidance and coordination 
committee, chaired by the Home Minister, and a narcotics 
control executive committee, chaired by the Home Secretary. 
These entities exist and reportedly oversee all narcotics 
control programs, law enforcement activities, and legal 
reforms. 
 
¶7.  Nepal is actively implementing a National Drug Abuse 
Control Plan (NDACP), but other proposed efforts still await 
legislative approval. Legislative action on mutual legal 
assistance and witness protection, developed as part of the 
NDACP, has stalled for another year. The government has not 
submitted scheduled amendments to its Customs Act to control 
precursor chemicals. Legislation on asset seizures, drafted 
in 1997 with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 
assistance, is also awaiting approval. All are under review 
by the Ministry of Law and Justice. Legislation on criminal 
conspiracy has not yet been drafted. 
 
¶8.  In response to reports from the NDCLEU of increased 
trafficking and criminal behavior among tourists, the 
government has restricted the travel of several countries' 
nationals to Nepal. Citizens of Nigeria, Swaziland, Ghana, 
Zimbabwe, Iraq, Afghanistan, and residents of the Palestinian 
territories are unable to obtain visas on arrival. The Home 
Ministry and the NDCLEU reported that Nigerians in particular 
travel on false passports to Nepal, via South Africa and 
India, to widen their organized crime network and traffic 
heroin, humans and arms. 
 
¶9.  LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS. The NDCLEU has developed an 
intelligence wing, but its effectiveness remains constrained 
by limited human resources and technological equipment. 
Coordination and cooperation among NDCLEU and Nepal's customs 
and immigration services, while still problematic, are 
improving. Narcotics officials admit that the destruction of 
areas of illicit drugs cultivation is not as effective as it 
could be; however, final statistical data for 2006 indicate 
an improvement over 2005. In 2006, 328 hectares of cannabis 
cultivation were destroyed, compared to 121 hectares in 2005. 
In 2005, 4 hectares of opium cultivation were destroyed; data 
was unavailable for 2006. Nepal does not have an enticement 
program for replacement crops. 
 
¶10.  The NDCLEU reports that arrests and drug seizures 
increased in 2007. From January-September 2007, police 
arrested 78 foreigners (13 in Kathmandu) and 524 Nepalese 
citizens (115 in Kathmandu) on the basis of drug trafficking 
charges-as compared to all of 2006, when police arrested 46 
foreigners and 473 Nepalese citizens. Local police made 80 
percent of the arrests in 2007, while the NDCLEU accounted 
for the remaining 20 percent. In the same time period, the 
NDCLEU and local units reportedly seized 7,731 kg of 
cannabis--more than the amount of cannabis seized in all of 
2006 (3,624 kg). The NDCLEU also seized 15 kg of heroin from 
January-September 2007, comparable to the amount seized in 
all of 2006. Most of the seizures were of "brown sugar"--low 
quality heroin smuggled from India. Police made relatively 
few seizures of more expensive white heroin from Afghanistan. 
The NDCLEU further reported the seizure of 3,843 kg of 
hashish (2,517 kg in 2006) in Nepal from January-September 
¶2007. Most seizures of heroin and hashish in 2007 occurred 
along the Nepal-Indian border, within Kathmandu, or at 
Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) as passengers departed 
Nepal. The NDCLEU did not report seizures of opium for 2006 
or 2007. 
 
¶11.  CORRUPTION. Nepal has no laws specifically targeting 
narcotics-related corruption by government officials, 
although both provisions in the Narcotics Control Drug Act of 
1976 and Nepal's anticorruption legislation can be employed 
to prosecute any narcotics-related corruption. As a matter of 
government policy, Nepal neither encourages nor facilitates 
illicit production or distribution of narcotics, psychotropic 
 
KATHMANDU 00001982  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
drugs, or other controlled substances, nor the laundering of 
proceeds from illegal drug transactions. 
 
¶12.  AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES. Nepal is party to the 1998 UN 
Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic 
Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1993 South 
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Convention 
on Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances The Home 
Ministry set up a SAARC Drug Offenses Monitoring Desk at TIA 
in 2006. Nepal has signed but, as of November 2007, not yet 
ratified the UN Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime and the UN Convention against Corruption. There is no 
U.S. extradition treaty with Nepal. Nepal does not extradite 
its nationals. 
 
¶13.  CULTIVATION/PRODUCTION. Cannabis is an indigenous plant 
in Nepal, and cultivation of certain selected varieties is 
rising, particularly in the lowland region of the Tarai. 
There is some small-scale cultivation of opium poppy, but 
detection is difficult since it is interspersed among licit 
crops. Nepali drug enforcement officials reported that all 
heroin seized in Nepal originated elsewhere. Nepal does not 
produce precursor chemicals. Importers of dual-use precursor 
chemicals must obtain a license and submit bimonthly reports 
on usage to the Home Ministry. 
 
¶14.  According to the Home Ministry, there have been no 
seizures of precursor chemicals since 1997. There have been 
no reports of the illicit use of licensed imported dual-use 
precursor chemicals. Nepal is used as a transit route to move 
precursor chemicals between India and China. With 
ratification of the SAARC Convention on Narcotics Drugs and 
Psychotropic Substances, which holds countries liable for 
policing precursor chemicals, the Home Ministry said it 
planned to assert control over precursor chemicals. These 
chemicals are currently under the jurisdiction of the 
Ministry of Health and are not carefully monitored for abuse. 
As of November 2007, the government is still reviewing 
policies for the control and regulation of precursor 
chemicals for a proposed amendment to the Narcotics Drugs 
Control Act. 
 
¶15.  DRUG FLOW/TRANSIT. According to NDCLEU, evidence from 
narcotics seizures suggests that narcotics transit Nepal from 
India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to other countries in the 
region and to Europe, the U.S. and Japan. Media reports have 
claimed that most narcotics are bound for India, and law 
enforcement sources indicated that most seizures do occur at 
the India/Nepal border. Government officials report 2007 has 
seen considerable improvements in stemming drug flow and 
transit through Nepal and better border security compared to 
previous years. Nevertheless, the NDCLEU says customs and 
border controls are weak along Nepal's land borders with 
India and China, while the Indian border is essentially open. 
Security measures to interdict narcotics and contraband at 
TIA and at Nepal's regional airports with direct flights to 
India are also inadequate. The Government of Nepal (GON), 
along with other governments, is working to increase the 
level of security at the international airport, and the Nepal 
Army is detailed to assist with airport security. The NDCLEU 
took the increase in arrests of Nepalese couriers in other 
countries as an indication that Nepalese were becoming more 
involved in the drug trade both as couriers and as 
traffickers. This also suggests that Nepal may be 
increasingly used as a transit point for destinations in 
South and East Asia, as well as in Europe-particularly Spain, 
the Netherlands and Switzerland. The NDCLEU has also 
identified the United States as a final destination for some 
drugs transiting Nepal, typically routed through Bangkok. 
 
¶16.  DOMESTIC PROGRAMS (DEMAND REDUCTION). The GON has 
continued to implement its national drug demand reduction 
strategy in association with the Sri Lanka-based Colombo 
Plan, assistance from the United States, UNODC, donor 
agencies, and NGOs. However, resource constraints have 
limited significant progress. 
 
 
KATHMANDU 00001982  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶17.  POLICY INITIATIVES. U.S. policy is to strengthen Nepal's 
law enforcement capacity to combat narcotics trafficking and 
related crimes, to maintain positive bilateral cooperation, 
and to encourage Nepal to enact and implement appropriate 
laws and regulations to meet all objectives of the 1988 UN 
Drug Convention. 
 
¶18.  BILATERAL COOPERATION. The United States works with GON 
agencies to provide expertise and training in enforcement. 
Nepal exchanges drug trafficking information with regional 
neighbors and occasionally with destination countries in 
Europe in connection with international narcotics 
investigations and proceedings. 
 
¶19.  THE ROAD AHEAD. The United States will continue 
information exchanges, training, and enforcement cooperation. 
The United States will provide support to various parts of 
the legal establishment to combat corruption and improve rule 
of law, as well as support improvements in the Nepali customs 
service. The United States also will encourage the GON to 
enact stalled drug legislation. 
POWELL