30 November 2011 11:15 am
Five Indians and three Sri Lankans were arrested in the seas close to the Delft Islands by the Sri Lanka Navy when they were smuggling in 1.774 kilogrammes of heroin to Sri Lanka in several boats from India, giving a glimpse of one of the ways that heroin is smuggled in.
The value of the heroin is worth around Rs.7.5 million. Navy spokesman Commander Kosala Warnakulasuriya said that the suspects were handed over to the Kankasanthurai (KKS) police and now being held under detention orders.
Police media spokesman Ajith Rohana said that before the war, heroin was smuggled into Sri Lanka from air but now the transactions are carried out in the Northern seas as now it is impossible to smuggle them from air.
Recently the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) informed that there is major decrease in the activities of drug peddlers and a marked drop in heroin and other narcotics consumption among the addicts in Colombo and its suburbs.
According to the police they have already identified the foreign network that sends heroin to Sri Lanka. The Police also infer that the main suspect and his associates have been involved in getting heroin from dealers in the sea and distributing the drugs through fishermen and other associates. (Supun Dias)