Laltipur District Court on Tuesday extended the custody of four persons, who were arrested on charge of abetting a drug racket based in Thailand, to seven days.

Ratan Lal Sanghai of Sanghai Group is one of the arrestees.

Sanghai and four staffers of the Bara-based Arya Pharmalab were arrested on Saturday after police found that they had been supplying chemicals and raw materials to smugglers who would use them to produce controlled drugs including Amphetamine.

Court Registrar Baburam Dahal said the custody of the accused has been extended for a week. Earlier, the court had sent them to four-day judicial custody.

Following the arrest, Sanghai had been admitted to Norvic International Hospital after he complained of chest pain. Police had recovered around 500 kilograms of pseudoephedrine which after chemical reduction can be converted into Amphetamine. Also known as crystal drug, Amphetamine is a stimulant drug and also works as appetite suppressant. Amphetamine is used as recreational drug in various parts of the world.

Thailand, the Philippines and Laos have a high consumption of Amphetamine and it is listed as controlled drugs, according to World Drug Report, 2010 published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The smugglers hence channel the drugs through Nepal and India, which is transported to Myanmar and eventually to Thailand.

According to the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of Nepal Police, Dharma Pakhrin of Dhading is the ringleader based in Thailand, who has been supplying controlled drugs to different countries including Australia.     

Meanwhile, the NCB on Monday asked Nepal Rastra Bank to block the locker of Sanghai, his brother Pawan and Shanker Halan.