17 February 2020 12:01 am
By Shane Seneviratne
Nearly 200 young males and females have been arrested by a team of excise officers of the special raid unit of the Central Province yesterday (16) when they carried out a raid on a facebook party where illegal drugs were being used at a leading hotel (Bahirawakanda Swiss Residencies) in Kandy. The party was being held to celebrate Valentines Day.
The Central Province Special Excise Raid unit said that, among the guests at the function, there was a police inspector,a jailer of a prison, two university students and a group of employees from the executive grade in the private sector.
Among the youngsters arrested were 25 young women who had narcotics in their possession and another group of 17 persons including those who organized the party and the others had been released after advising them, according to the officers. There had been heroin, cannabis, ice and a large quantity of narcotic tablets in the possession of those who were arrested.
It is said that Rs. 3,500 was charged for using narcotics and Rs.2,500 has been charged as entrance fees for this party which had been organised through social media. The excise officers said that guests had arrived from distant areas like Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Gampaha, Colombo and Trincomalee. With the advice of the Excise Commissioner General Ariyadasa Bodaragama, Additional Excise Commissioner General Wasantha Dissanayake, Central Province Excise Commissioner Upul Seneviratne, Excise Superintendent Tissa Gunaratne and with the directions of the Central Province Excise Special Raid Unit OIC Nalaka Malawipathirana, the officers of the Unit are carrying out further investigations.