13 April 2024 07:32 pm
The Customs Narcotics Control Unit officials stationed at the BIA Arrival Terminal stopped the arriving passenger on suspicion that she may be carrying drugs.
Since they could not find anything in her belongings the woman was taken into custody under suspicion that she might be carrying drugs in her body.
She was then admitted to the Negombo Hospital for an X ray scan and the authorities found capsules containing drugs in her abdomen.
Since yesterday evening the officials have retrieved 57 capsules containing 620 grams of cocaine and the operation is continuing, as they suspect there are more.
Customs spokesman Senior Director Seewali Arukgoda told the Dailymirror that the female passenger had left Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and had arrived in Colombo via Mumbai.
The preliminary investigations revealed that the 38-year-old passenger had come to Sri Lanka for the first time and she has stated her purpose of visit as tourism.
This is the second cocaine detection at the BIA for this year, where earlier a Brazilian national was arrested by the Customs last month while attempting to smuggle in 132 grams of cocaine in 12 swallowed capsules.