Cocaine in Brazilian backpacks worth Rs.243Mn seized by Customs

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana  

A large consignment of Cocaine with an estimated street value of Rs.243 million, which was smuggled into the country inside seven backpacks carried by an inbound Brazilian national, was seized by Sri Lanka Customs at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday.   
The Customs Narcotic Control Unit officials stationed at the BIA Arrival Terminal following a probe intercepted a male foreigner arriving in the country yesterday early morning from Doha on Qatar Airways flight QR 658.   
Customs Spokesperson Additional Director General Seevali Arukgoda said the Customs sleuths found the narcotics being smuggled into the country in a ‘sophisticated concealment’. They found 4, 855 grams of Cocaine ingeniously concealed in seven backpacks stored in the suspect’s checked baggage.   
Sources from the Customs Narcotic Control Unit told the Daily Mirror the drugs in about 15 individual 350 grams packs had been concealed within the inner padded layer of the seven backpacks making it one of most sophisticated smuggling attempts thwarted by the authorities.   
A gram of Cocaine has an estimated street value of between Rs.40, 000 – 50, 000 in Sri Lanka and the consignment is approximately valued at Rs. 243 million.   
The apprehended 59-year-old Brazilian passenger along with the seized narcotics was to be handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) for further legal action.