PNB thwarts cocaine smuggling bid at BIA

A 34-year-old Bolivian national who allegedly smuggled in cocaine weighing 11 kilogrammes using a novel method was taken into custody by the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), a PNB official said.

The official told the Daily Mirror that under the instructions of Police Narcotics Range DIG Sajeewa Medawatte, PNB officials found the cocaine stuffed in several towels and some wearings using a special chemical.

The PNB had found cocaine weighing 11 kilogrammes and 300 grammes stuffed in three towels, two bed sheets and two jerseys inside the foreigner’s luggage.

According to the PNB, the suspect had arrived in a flight from Dubai on Monday (18) when he was searched at the arrival terminal.

The PNB official said the smuggle in method was a rare one and was the second occasion that such an attempt was thwarted.

They had thwarted a similar attempt about six years ago.

The PNB is interrogating the suspect under a detention order obtained after he was produced before the Negombo Magistrate.

The officials said that the detection was vital as it had been made on the eve of the the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which falls on June 26. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)