398kg of Marijuana Found in Wrecked Vehicle After Biratnagar Checkpoint Chase

A Scorpio SUV fleeing a routine police checkpoint crashed near Biratnagar, revealing 13 sacks of marijuana; the driver remains at large.

FILE — seized cannabis · U.S. CBP / public domain

Police in Biratnagar, Nepal, recovered 398 kilograms of marijuana from a crashed SUV on Saturday night after its driver abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, according to OnlineKhabar English News.

The Chase and Crash

The Scorpio had been traveling from Itahari toward Biratnagar along the Koshi Highway when it reportedly made a U-turn upon spotting a checkpoint set up by the Bargachhi Police Post around 10 p.m., OnlineKhabar reported. While attempting to flee, the vehicle collided with an oncoming car near the Oil Corporation area in Biratnagar Metropolitan City-3, the outlet said.

What Police Found

After the crash, officers searched the Scorpio and discovered 13 sacks containing a combined 398 kilograms of marijuana hidden inside, Morang Police spokesperson DSP Mahendra Kumar Mishra told OnlineKhabar. Mishra said both vehicles involved in the collision are now in police custody, and a search is underway for the driver who fled the scene. OnlineKhabar's report did not name the driver or specify whether any other occupants were in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

Regional Context

The Biratnagar seizure lands amid a wave of large-scale cannabis interdictions reported across the broader South Asian region in recent weeks. Our database shows the Deccan Herald reported a 1,800-kilogram seizure from three trucks in Rajasthan with seven arrests, while ThePrint reported two men arrested in Uttar Pradesh with 220 kilograms of cannabis allegedly bound for Delhi. OnlineKhabar itself separately reported a case involving two people held with 20 quintals — roughly 2,000 kilograms — of marijuana in India, though that report did not specify a location in the material reviewed.

Other recent coverage in our database points to a mix of trafficking busts and cultivation raids: The New Indian Express reported an NCB-led operation destroying a large cannabis crop in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district, while ThePrint reported the destruction of 7,300 cannabis plants in a forest in Kerala's Palakkad district. The Times of India also reported that nine people were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in a separate case involving roughly 400 kilograms of smuggled cannabis, a volume comparable to the amount found in the Biratnagar crash, though that case is unrelated based on the available reporting.

What to Watch

It remains unclear from OnlineKhabar's report whether the Biratnagar seizure is linked to any of the other regional cases in our database, or where the marijuana was sourced or destined. The fate of the fleeing driver — and whether police identify a wider trafficking network behind the shipment — is likely to determine how the case develops. Separately, NDTV has reported that India's Supreme Court has signaled a more liberal approach to marijuana bail cases, a trend that, if it continues, could shape how downstream trafficking prosecutions in the region are handled, though it is not clear whether that shift would have any bearing on a case originating in Nepal. Cannabis Newz will continue to follow developments as Morang Police release further details.