Customs seize Mexican Methamphetamine worth Rs.100Mn through Facebook lover from Guatemala

• Parcel came from Guatemala via USA addressed to a local farmhouse employee in Welikanda containing 3.1Kgs of expensive Mexican Crystal Meth  

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana  

In one of the most unusual drug hauls in history, Sri Lanka Customs managed to seize an expensive variety of narcotics called ‘Mexican Crystal Meth’ worth over Rs.100 million, sent to a local farmhouse labourer from his Facebook lover in Guatemala.  

The Customs Narcotic Control Unit officials were alerted when a courier agency in Seeduwa received a suspicious parcel via airmail a couple of days ago, declared as machine parts addressed to a person in Welikanda, Polonnaruwa.  

From the nature of the addressee and the unusual sender from a South American country, the authorities decided to stop the package for investigations and the former was asked to come and claim the parcel.  

When the addressee arrived at the courier agency yesterday, the authorities opened the package to find a large pulley about 2 feet inside. The sleuths cut it open in half with a grinding wheel to find the drugs concealed within.  
Customs Spokesperson and Additional Director General Seevali Arukgoda said 3, 100 grams (3.1Kgs) of Ice (Methamphetamine) was found in the package and the stock is valued at Rs.100 million.  

A senior Customs narcotic unit detective told the Daily Mirror the seized variety of methamphetamine is far more expensive than the usual ‘Indian Ice’ they find. The street value of one gram of Indian Ice is about Rs.15,000, whilst a gram of Mexican Methamphetamine is valued at Rs.32,000.  

The preliminary investigations have revealed that the 25-year-old local suspect, who is attached to a farming company in Welikanda as a labourer, had been having an online relationship with a woman in Guatemala.  
The couple had been having a Facebook relationship for about two years before the woman had asked him to collect a parcel she would send to his name. The youth had however been told by the woman that the parcel was intended for someone else and to have it in his safekeeping until the intended receiver would come and collect it afterwards.  

The parcel which had been sent from Guatemala through FedEx had reached the USA before arriving in Sri Lanka, the detective said.  

The suspect along with the seized narcotics will be handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) for further investigations.