Blog: Ropes and pulleys
At the border point, known as Tatopani, customs and police officials refused to make any official comment.
But, requesting anonymity, some customs field staff told the BBC that at night, smugglers fix ropes at both sides of a rivulet that separates the Nepal-Tibet border. Then, with the help of a pulley, they smuggle items in and out.
WWF-Nepal’s office in Kathmandu said it too had learnt about the rope and pulley idea.
“We have been trying to [raise] all these things with the Chinese side, but it has not been an easy experience trying to work together,” said WWF official Diwakar Chapagain.
Just outside the Tatopani customs office, I saw for myself two impounded trucks with illegal cargoes of red sandalwood.
The vehicles had double-sided number plates. One side had a Chinese diplomatic number while the other carried a Nepalese registration.
The Chinese embassy in Kathmandu did not respond to a request for an interview.
Nepal’s forest minister Matrika Prasad Yadav, whose Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has just won a major election, said his party will take action once it reaches office.
“If we come to power, all those who have been arrested as wildlife traders but who are actually only porters and the lowest strata in this trade will be released, and the real traders in the upper echelon will be arrested,” he told the BBC before the polls.
There are allegations from conservation groups that the Maoists used illegal wildlife products to fund the insurgency, an allegation the former rebels reject.
The Maoists might like to take action against wildlife traffickers, but political and economic issues are likely to be more pressing factors as they try to lead a new coalition government.
You can listen to One Planet, or download it as a podcast, by visiting the BBC World Service’s One Planet website. This edition should be available from approximately noon GMT Thursday
