Thimphu police made a series of arrests related to abuse and illicit trafficking of controlled substances in about four hours on June 25.

Following a tip-off, Thimphu police arrested two men aged 22 and 26 years from Hongkong market for abusing controlled substances around 7pm. Police seized eight and six capsules of SpasmoProxyvon Plus (SP+) each from the duo.

On interrogation, the men said they bought the capsules from a 26-year-old man who works as a cook in a Karaoke bar in Thimphu. Police found 63 SP+ capsules concealed in a whisky box in the Karaoke’s kitchen.

The cook confessed to police that he bought the capsules from another 26-year-old man in Babesa in Thimphu. Police arrested him at 9:43pm and seized 147 capsules of SP+ from him which was concealed in his undergarment. He told police that he bought the capsules from a man who lives in a labour camp near a car wash in Babesa.

A police official said that when they visited the labour camp around 10:43pm, there was an old couple in the makeshift hut. “We did not find anything inside the house. However, when we searched the surroundings of the place, we found 1,728 SP+ capsules concealed in a plastic and a sack in bushes below the hut,” the official said.

Although the 60-year-old man confessed that he sold the capsules to the 26-year-old man in Babesa, he did not say anything about where he bought the capsules.

Except for the 60-year-old man, all tested positive for controlled substances.

The first two abusers were referred to the Treatment Assessment Panel at Bhutan Narcotics Control Authority for compulsory treatment.

Dechen Tshomo