A truck heading to China to buy clothes was found carrying illegal foreign currency worth Rs 25 crore, including US dollars and euros. The truck owner and driver, Kusang Lama, also known as ‘Fuchche,’ has been arrested. Although details about the money are unclear, police suspect it was being taken to China to buy gold.
Kusang, a resident of Bhotekoshi Rural Municipality-1 in Sindhupalchok, lives with his family in a rented house in Gokarneshwar Municipality-2, Kathmandu. The police stopped his truck (Na 7 Kha 1652) at Jhor, Tokha Municipality-2, at 11 PM on Monday. Acting on a tip-off that illegal euros and dollars were being smuggled into China via the Rasuwagadhi border, the police seized the vehicle.
SSP Ramesh Basnet, chief of the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office, said they brought the truck to their office for inspection. “We found the US dollars and euros hidden inside a false bottom in the driver’s cabin,” he said. During interrogation, Lama himself revealed the money’s hiding place.
The truck had been kept in a garage for nearly three weeks before being taken out on the day of the arrest. According to police sources, trucks traveling to Rasuwagadhi usually make two weekly trips. However, Lama’s truck had been kept in the garage for a long time, possibly to prepare a hidden compartment for smuggling money. Police claim this is the largest amount of illegal currency they have seized at one time.
The police further revealed that the truck, marked with “Sony Transport,” was supposed to be driven by Lama up to Rasuwagadhi. After that, another driver was arranged to take it across the border into China.
