Five foreign workers who were trying to enter Bhutan, hiding in a truck, were arrested by authorities for bypassing the established procedure and the strict COVID measures, Kuensel reported. 

The foreigners were working in a company named Bhutan Concast Pvt Ltd and were hiding a truck carrying raw materials for the firm. Four of them were arrested on Saturday and another one was on Sunday when the trucks tried to pass the Ahlay Land Custom Station in Pasakha. 

Soon after the discovery, the whole factory of Bhutan Concast Pvt Ltd was put under lockdown and seven people that came into their contacts have been put into quarantine facilities. 

Calling the act “highly irresponsible,” Bhutan’s Southern COVID-19 Taskforce released a statement on the incident: “The incident is a grim reminder of how people resort to reckless act that could undermine what we have achieved thus far and compromise efforts to prevent the importation and spread of COVID-19.” 

Officials said a proper investigation would be done by the Royal Bhutan Police and the Department of Immigration to detect to the full extent of the involvement of other people.