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Monday, 25 February 2019 01:34 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday inspects the largest heroin seize in Colombo on Saturday
With the detection of the country’s largest-ever heroin haul amounting to 294.4 kilograms on Saturday from Colombo, the Police yesterday reiterated the Government’s plans to reinstate the death penalty for notorious drug smugglers in the country.
“The Government intends to activate the death penalty for the mass-scale drug smugglers who are being convicted by both courts - the High Court and the Appeal Court,” Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara told reporters yesterday.
Valued at over Rs. 2.945 billion, the parcels which were stored in 10 suitcases were to be transported in two vans at the time of the detection. The two vans had five suitcases, each having 163.356 kilograms and 131.137 kilograms respectively.
“The PNB and STF officials, who carried out the detection on a tip off, had taken the massive haul of heroin on Saturday evening at a car park of a supermarket in Kollupitiya,” SP Gunasekera said.
The PNB and the STF had taken total of 317 kilograms of heroin in 2017 and the highest haul of 211 kilograms was detected from Chilaw in that year. The largest haul of heroin (287 kilograms) was detected in 2018, in which the total detection amounted to 732 kilograms.
“The PNB and STF had detected large hauls of heroin during the past few years mainly due to the support and commitment given by President Maithripala Sirisena to carry out islandwide raids to bust the well-organised drug smuggling network,” Gunasekara said.
Reiterating his strong commitment and support to control drug smuggling into the country, President Sirisena commended the efforts taken by the PNB and STF officials to detect the largest ever haul of heroin in Sri Lanka.
The President, who had inspected the seized heroin stocks at the PNB yesterday morning, has said in his Twitter account: “My congratulations to the PNB and STF who have successfully seized the largest consignment of illicit drugs in our history.”
Extending his gratitude to all the officials involved, he has assured his fullest support for apprehending illicit drug smuggling in the country.
The STF Commandant Senior DIG M. R. Latiff and the PNB Director T.C.A. Dhanapala also joined President Sirisena’s inspection tour at the PNB.
A top STF official speaking on condition of anonymity told the Daily FT that the PNB had commenced questioning the two suspects Wasim Mohammed (43) and Mohammed Ahamed (32) from Keselwatte, Panadura to find whether they have any links to the notorious underworld criminal and drug smuggler Makandure Madush, who is now in Dubai Police custody with 31 others.
He said that the suspects were to transport the stocks in the two vans to a safer location and the stocks had been smuggled into the country by fishing trawlers.
“We have commenced a full probe into this case and are now questioning the two suspects on how they received the drugs, the transport routes, their other links and distribution network in Sri Lanka,” the Police media spokesman confirmed.
The Acting Magistrate Lochana Abeywickrama had issued a detention order till 1 March when the two suspects were produced before Courts yesterday. (SS)
