Drug-related offences continue to dominate Bhutan’s criminal landscape. The Office of the Attorney General’s Annual Report for January 2024 to June 2025 shows that the office handled 410 cases of illicit trafficking and abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. These offences make up nearly one-third of all cases forwarded to the OAG by the police.
Out of nearly 1,400 cases the OAG received, 410 involved illicit trafficking and abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
This is an increase from around 350 cases in 2023.
The report says authorities seized more than 68,000 SP+ and N10 tablets, along with over 2,100 grams of cannabis.
Drug-related cases continue to weigh heavily on the OAG’s workload. They have added to the enforcement backlog, made it harder to recover restitution from offenders serving prison terms, and increased the number of pending enforcement actions.
The total number of cases received by the OAG also rose by more than 420 compared to 2023.
Of these cases, the police referred over 1,300, the Anti-Corruption Commission sent 40, and various ministries and agencies submitted around 20.
Among the ACC referrals, embezzlement was the most common offence, followed by bribery and abuse of function, involving misuse of authority for personal or political gain.
So far, the OAG has closed around 950 cases, appealed 65, kept over 80 under review, and returned about 40. The rest remain under trial.
The Property and Judgment Enforcement Division received more than 1,100 cases and recovered over Nu 36 M in restitution.
Tashi Dekar
Edited by Sangay Chezom
