The Paro District Court has sentenced a 33-year-old Indian national to six years in prison for illicit trafficking of cannabis and its derivatives today. He was caught with over seven kilogrammes of cannabis at Paro International Airport in April this year.
Customs officials intercepted the man in April during a routine luggage inspection after he arrived from Bangkok. Inside his suitcase, they found more than seven kilogrammes of cannabis.
According to the judgment, he claimed he was unaware that the suitcase contained drugs. He told the court that a friend invited him to Bangkok to help with his depression. After a week there, he said his friend asked him to collect a locked suitcase from a taxi and travel to Bhutan before returning to India, saying it only contained food, clothes, and cosmetics.
The court, however, ruled that knowledge or intent was irrelevant under Bhutanese law, as mere possession or importation of narcotics constitutes illicit trafficking.
The court found that the man’s travel expenses were entirely paid by his friend, whom he had met online, and stated a reasonable person would have questioned the unusual arrangement, especially the sudden change in travel plans to route him through Bhutan.
The court concluded that the 33-year-old had failed to exercise reasonable caution and that his explanation lacked credibility.
The Office of the Attorney General forwarded the case to the Paro District Court in May, charging the man with illicit trafficking of cannabis and its derivatives. Meanwhile, the court has yet to deliver the judgment on another case involving three Indian nationals arrested in May for carrying more than seven kilogrammes of cannabis.
Tashi Dekar
