The cost to buy a Nepali passport on the black market is reported to be $1,740 (150,000 Nepali Rupee). If a legitimate visa is included with the fake passport, then the price rises to $6,961 (600,000 Rupees).
The passports are reportedly bought by Bangladeshi nationals who use it to increase their chances of obtain employment. In addition, drug traffickers and wildlife traffickers occasionally buy Nepali passports to hide their identity.
Source: “Nepal emerging as ‘regional hub for human trafficking’,” eKantipur.com, February 24, 2013.
Between January and February 2013, police in Nepal broke up a smuggling ring where they recovered 1,580 kilograms of Tibetan Antelope Wools. Police and wildlife officials estimate that at least 10,000 endangered Tibetan Antelopes were killed in order to produce that much wool.
Source: “Nepal busts wild animal parts smuggling racket,” Gulf Times, February 22, 2013.
Police estimate that there are between 300,000 to 400,000 people in Nepal who are addicted to drugs.
Around 20 percent of the drug addicts are young people.
Addicts spend up to $1 Million on illegal drugs in Nepal.
Source: Kiran Chapagain, “Nepal launches drug awareness campaign targeting youth,” Khbar South Asia, June 19, 2012.
According to the WWF, there were 534 rhinos in Nepal at the end of 2011. The number was 99 rhinos higher than the 435 figure counted in 2008. The rise in rhinos was attributed to an increase conservation effort by the communities of Nepal and increased security against poaching activities.
Source: AFP, “Nepal winning battle against rhino poachers,” Google News, May 11, 2012.
Drug abusers in Nepal spend up to $1 Million (90 Million Nepalese Rupees) on illegal drugs within the country each year, according to Narcoon Nepal.
Source: Rajneesh Bhandari, “The Next Drug War? Nepal Becoming a Haven For Drug Trafficking,” PolicyMic, April 20, 2012.
Sellers of counterfeit passports in Mumbai, India sell the fake India passports on the black market for $294 (15,000 Indian Rupee). Along with Mumbai, police report that many counterfeit passports are created in Nepal as well.
Source: V Narayan, “Nepal becoming hub of counterfeiters: Police,” Times of India, March 26, 2012.
Pangolin organs can be bought in Nepal at prices of $413 per kilogram (30,000 Nepalese Rupees). When the organs are smuggled intoTibet, the same organs are sold for $1,100 (80,000 Nepalese Rupees).
Source: Dhurba Dangal, “Smuggling pangolin organs to China rampant,” Republica, August 23, 2011.
According to court cases, human traffickers sell Nepali women to brokers in Mumbai, India at prices of $975 (45,000 Indian Rupees). The women were then trafficked into the Middle East.
Source: Ankit Adhikari, “Paradigm shift in women’s trafficking,” eKantiur.com, May 9, 2011.
Illegal logging in Nepal destroyed an estimated 100,000 hectares of forest in the first several months of 2010.
Source: AFP, “Nepal bans logging for two months,” Google News, June 18, 2010.
