A Japanese man has been arrested in Katmandu for allegedly attempting to smuggle live beetles to Japan, police said Sunday.
Satoru Watanabe and two Nepalese men were reportedly detained Friday at a hotel in the capital. All three have been sent to the district forestry office here for questioning.
In June 2000, a Japanese man and two accomplices were arrested for collecting wild insects without a permit in the Makawanpur district in southern Nepal.
The man was tried in a local court and released after paying a fine.
In August last year, a Japanese man was arrested at Katmandu airport shortly before boarding a flight for Osaka. He was suspected of attempting to smuggle 271 pairs of indigenous stag beetles out of the country.
Nepal has more than 1,000 species of beetles, but collection and export without a permit are prohibited.