Video: STF nab 85 kilos of heroin

12 June 2014 04:14 am

The Police Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday seized 85 kilogrammes of heroin with a street value of more than Rs. 680 million when they took into custody a hybrid car with two suspects on the Biyagama Road in Kelaniya.

Police said the stock was the largest heroin haul seized in the country while being transported over land.

Police spokesman Ajith Rohana said the STF carried out the raid after employing decoys for about three months following a tip off they had received.

Police said the two suspects taken into custody identified as Selvathurai Ravikumar and Selvathurai Suntharaj from Maradana and Kotahena were brothers.

SSP Rohana said the main suspect who had apparently provided the heroin stock in the hybrid car to the arrested brothers is to be taken into custody and investigations are underway to nab him.

The STF that was on the trail of the racket for the past three months had been following the two brothers based on an initial tip off received from a suspect arrested on a heroin case earlier. Early this week the STF had deployed three teams to follow the two brothers on information that an important deal was to happen this week.

On Wednesday one team had been following the two brothers who were going from Kelaniya towards Biyagama in a three wheeler. At a certain point on the road they had stopped the three wheeler behind a white Hybrid car parked beside the road. At that place one of the brothers had got out of the three wheeler and got into the hybrid car and started driving off in front of the three wheeler. Then the STF men who were following them had informed a police checkpoint to stop the vehicles. On checking the car they had found the heroin haul and the two brothers were taken into custody.  

Further investigations to find out the wider network behind the racket are being carried out by the police narcotics bureau and the STF.  (Sanath Desmond and Ajith Siriwardana)