Man is arrested with foreign currencies equivalent to Rs 2.5m

The Metropolitan Police Airport Security Office has confiscated undeclared foreign currency from a Nepali family who was waiting to board a flight to Bangkok.

Subash Shrestha, 48, was arrested on Friday with undeclared foreign currency of Thailand, the United States, China and Europe.

Subash was about to fly to Bangkok on a Thai Air flight with his wife Uma Devi and their two daughters and a son. Subash is a resident of Mitrapark, Kathmandu.

Subash was arrested with 22,150 Thai baht, 1,380 euros, $10,000 and 80,000 Chinese yuan.

The value of the confiscated currency in Nepali currency is approximately Rs2.6 million.

According to the airport security office, the family was arrested from boarding gate number 5 in the sterile zone of the airport.

“Some officers were sent to check the luggage of the family after we received a tip-off. When the family was found to have been carrying foreign currency without declaration, they were not allowed to board the flight,” Senior Superintendent of Police Sandip Bhandari, chief of the airport security office, told the Post.

“Only Subash has been sent to Inland Revenue Department, along with the confiscated foreign currency, for further investigation,” said Bhandari.

As per the Nepal Rastra Bank, an individual—either Nepali or foreigner—cannot carry more than $5,000 or any other foreign currency equivalent to the amount through the Tribhuvan International Airport, unless given permission by the bank.

A similar incident of carrying undeclared foreign currency took place on March 4, when Sarala Khadka and Rinku Gurung were arrested with $35,650 and $33,900 respectively from the Tribhuvan International Airport.