June 12, 2025
THIMPHU – A record-breaking wave of heroin seizures has jolted the country’s law-enforcement agencies, which confiscated nearly 29 kilogrammes (Kg) of brown sugar in the first five months of 2025, more than the combined total of the previous five years.
As of May 26 this year, the Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) crackdown resulted in 21 cases of drug busts with 32 arrests. This is a sharp rise in narcotics trafficking from 2024, when authorities recorded 10 cases, resulting in 15 arrests and the seizure of just under 50 grams. In 2023, police recorded a single case with 0.36 grams.
Customs officials at Paro International Airport intercepted three separate heroin smuggling attempts.
The largest seizure occurred this year on February 4, when a 37-year-old Indian national was caught carrying 17.1 Kg of heroin. On January 8, another Indian national was arrested with 9.73 Kg of heroin, and earlier, on December 22, 2024, a third Indian national was caught smuggling 4.6 Kg of heroin.
All three individuals were traveling on flights from Bangkok to Paro, with the drugs reportedly passing undetected through Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand before reaching Bhutan.
The customs also seized over 7 Kg of dried cannabis.
The deputy chief of police, Colonel Pasang Dorji, from the RBP’s Crime and Operation Department, said that brown sugar seized at Paro International Airport in recent years prompted investigators to determine whether it was intended for local consumption or if Bhutan was being used as a transit route.
“Investigations revealed that suspects were primarily using Bhutan as a route for trafficking,” Colonel Pasang Dorji said. “The domestic market for brown sugar is limited due to its high cost compared to other drugs readily available in the country.”
According to police, the suspects confessed that the contraband was destined for delivery in India.
Despite its limited local demand, police have identified instances of small-scale smuggling across Bhutan’s border regions for local consumption.
Colonel Pasang Dorji warned that if unchecked, this trend could pose serious risks to Bhutanese society, particularly its youth, who are already disproportionately affected by substance abuse.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation and track suspects. There may be more circulating in the market than we currently know. The number of cases we have recorded is already a serious concern,” he said.
The police have called for a stronger, unified response from all concerned agencies. “The figures are already alarming,” Colonel Pasang Dorji stressed, “Addressing this challenge requires a collective approach from law enforcement, health authorities, education sectors, and community leaders.”
Police warn that without swift and coordinated action, the drug crisis particularly involving potent substances like brown sugar could deepen further.
The rise in brown sugar trafficking comes amid a wider drug crisis in the country, particularly among the youth. Between 2023 and 2024, 3,678 individuals under the age of 24 were arrested for drug-related offenses, accounting for more than half of all such arrests. Most of the arrested are unemployed young men or students.
A recent report by the National Council’s Social and Cultural Affairs Committee (SCAC) identified inhalants, marijuana, sedatives, and opioids as the most commonly abused substances among young Bhutanese.
In 2024, over 491,000 Kg of inhalants and solvents were imported, raising questions about regulatory oversight, given their classification as controlled substances under Bhutan’s Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Substance Abuse Act (NDPSSAA).
The RBP’s 2024 data showed significant seizures of other drugs as well: 17,356 SP+ tablets, 1,063 N10 tablets, 1.66 Kg of marijuana, 236 bottles of Corex syrup, 3.06 grammes of brown sugar, and 23.75 litres of thinner.
Authorities have identified Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at international borders as key channels for smuggling, with the Phuentsholing ICP recording the highest volume of intercepted illegal drugs.
Bhutan has several national policies aimed at curbing substance abuse, including the National Youth Policy 2011, the National Health Policy 2011, and the NDPSSAA (Amendment) 2018.
On August 4, 2013, police in Thimphu seized 7 grams of brown sugar from a 25-year-old man from Wangdue. This marked the first recorded seizure of a brown sugar transaction in Bhutan since 2004.