KATHMANDU: A slow walk, the leather jacket and the dark skin. The young man sneaks in a “you want smoke, man,” in Kathmandu's touristy Thamel district. Usually it is only marijuana or hashish, not worth the police's effort to crack down upon. However, the man doesn't stop, plopping down on the sidewalk and pushing a piece of glass into the hand of the customer. Five grams for NRS 3,000. Cheap and affordable. And foreigners are eating it up, say the many dealers on the streets of Nepal's capital city. “In recent times, we just got a shipment in from Poland and it is going so great because it's cheaper and more and more people want the stuff,” the man who said his name was “D.” He told Bikyamasr.com that the drug trade in Kathmandu is a combination between tourist and local, because once both get hooked on the “glass” they “won't stop coming.” There are few statistics on the international crystal methamphetamine trade, and for Nepal, the government continues to do little to stem the flow of drugs on its streets. Until recently, hashish was the drug of choice in the city, with foreigners rarely asking for anything else. But D says this has changed as a different tourist arrives in Kathmandu. “I have seen in recent years that foreigners are changing. No longer it is the hippie weed smoking foreigners, but the business types and they want two things: meth and sex,” he continued. For him, on a daily basis, he earns equal to the average monthly salary in the country of around NRS 6,000 and if the client wants sex as well as drugs, he can earn triple or more. “The drugs and sex go together here in Nepal,” he continued. “I have a few girls who will be with foreigners if the price is right and with the drugs now getting stronger, it is a good business.” But with police stationed at main circles in the tourist areas, D has to be more careful. “They aren't taking as many bribes, but a few of the other dealers have gotten a few of the police hooked on the glass and that makes our life safer,” he admitted. D said that overall, he and his group of early 20′s uneducated Nepalis, who all have a command of English and other languages, the move around “1,000 kilos of meth monthly.” That's a huge amount and although Bikyamasr.com could not confirm the figure, likely exaggerated, it shows that Kathmandu is growing in its underground drug scene, and the popular meth choice is increasing.
