KATHMANDU: Makwanpur police have arrested five people with 58 cartons of illegal Chinese vapes.

The contraband, valued at Rs 27.1 million, was discovered on Na 6 Kha 7163 a passenger bus traveling from Kathmandu to India via Hetauda.

A team of police deployed under the command of SP Sitaram Rijal, from the Bagmati Province Police Office, apprehended the suspects on Thursday evening at Hetauda-11 Thana Bharyang.

The arrested individuals include bus driver Salam Moktan, 37, from Bhimeshwar Municipality-2, Dolakha; Bus Conductor Pravindra Rana, 27, from Katari Municipality-11, Udayapur; Indra Bahadur Darji, 39, from Dupcheshwor Rural Municipality-7, Nuwakot; Santosh Bhusal, 30, from the same area; and Rajkumar Himang, 29, from Belka Municipality-16, Dhankuta.

SP Rijal revealed that the bus, which also carried passengers to India, was specifically rented for smuggling vapes, not for regular transport between Nepal and India.

The police plan to transfer the five suspects, along with the seized bus, to the Revenue Investigation Office in Pathlaiya, Bara for further action.