The Paro District Court sentenced a 28-year-old Indian national to 17 years in prison for illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs today. He was caught with over nine kilograms of heroin at Paro International Airport in January this year.
The customs officials caught him on 8th January with the drugs concealed in his suitcase during a routine inspection.
The man claimed that he was unaware of the drugs and that he was acting on instructions from a woman named Madonna Kelvin.
According to the judgment, he claimed that he had applied for a job online and was contacted via WhatsApp by Madonna, who arranged his travel to Laos to collect a parcel. He also said the woman paid his travel expenses and gave him 500 US dollars for food and accommodation. He said he was told to travel to Delhi via Bhutan with the suitcase, but was arrested upon arrival in Bhutan.
The court ruled that he was not careful enough and should have checked the suitcase and questioned the situation, especially since all expenses were covered by someone he had only met online. As a result, the court found the man’s claim lacking credibility.
He is one of the three Indian nationals arrested between December and February this year in connection with the seizure of more than 32 kilograms of heroin at the airport.
The court has yet to deliver its judgment on the case of a 35-year-old Indian man who was found carrying 17 kilograms of heroin in February this year.
Kinzang Lhadon
Edited by Tandin Phuntsho
