KAPILBASTU, Aug 25: Women are increasingly being used as porters to transport and smuggle hashish into India.
Hashish dealers have been found luring women into working as porters to transport the drug across the border.
On July 23, five women were arrested at the bus park in Krishnanagar Municipality-2, Kapilbastu, with 5.225 kilograms of hashish. Those arrested were 34-year-old Ramita Roka of Rapti Rural Municipality-3; 45-year-old Panisara Saru of Bijayanagar Rural Municipality-4, Jyotinagar, Kapilbastu; 56-year-old Nansari Gharti Magar; 43-year-old Bimala Pun of Rapti Rural Municipality-4, Ward No. 3, Masuria, Dang; and 48-year-old Chuma Lamichhane of Thori Rural Municipality-2, Parsa, who currently lives in Bijayanagar Rural Municipality-4, Jyotinagar, Kapilbastu.
On April 21, 2026, two women and a man were arrested at the bus park with 14.427 kilograms of hashish. Dil Kumari Gharti, Manisha Gharti and Nakul Gharti were arrested.
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Five women were arrested after 34.170 kilograms of hashish was seized in fiscal year 2023/24. According to the District Police Office, only two men were arrested for transporting hashish that year. Similarly, six women were arrested after 40.996 kilograms of hashish was seized in fiscal year 2022/23.
The District Police Office said investigations revealed that hashish smugglers were financially luring poor women from remote hill districts and using them to transport the drug.
Women from economically disadvantaged districts such as Rukum, Rolpa, Salyan and Dang are being used to smuggle hashish. DSP Ripendra Kumar Singh said the use of women to transport hashish is increasing. Krishnanagar and the western border areas of Kapilbastu have become transit points for smuggling hashish into India.
Hashish produced in districts including Rukum and Rolpa is smuggled into India across the border. Dealers particularly use women and people from poor families as porters to transport the drug.
Dealers use porters to transport hashish to Lucknow and other parts of India. Hashish has been transported illegally in this manner for many years.
The police have launched a campaign to break the hashish smuggling network after receiving information about an increase in such activities. “We have also launched a campaign to identify the routes through which hashish is smuggled,” said Superintendent of Police Manohar Kumar Bhatta.
Women carry hashish in waist bags and other items before crossing the border. Police say that porters are usually arrested, while the dealers behind the smuggling operation rarely fall into police traps.
“We have taken special measures to control drugs, including hashish, but we have found that only women and people from poor families are being used as porters,” he said.
In the last fiscal year, 92 men and seven women were arrested in connection with 59 drug-related cases. Police seized 41.265 kilograms of marijuana, 14.427 kilograms of hashish, 227.985 grams of brown sugar, 63 Nitravet tablets, 149 Tramazole tablets and 607 Spasmo capsules.
