PM denies link to heroin haul

Wednesday, 4 December 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Ashwin Hemmathagama Our Lobby Correspondent Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne denied any involvement in importing South Asia’s largest heroin stock, which was busted recently by Sri Lanka Customs and the Police Narcotic Division.

Addressing Parliament yesterday, the Prime Minister in response to the details requested by MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Monday confirmed issuing a letter by a “Secretary at the Ministry of Buddha Sasana” and that investigations were underway with INTERPOL. “I receive over 100 letters per day and meet over 500 people twice a week,” he said, explaining the difficulty of keeping track of the conversations taking place and the letters issued. “With the recent development, I have instructed my staff to discontinue issuing letters or having telephone conversations to imply my directions whatsoever. The particular container was transported by Northern Tower cargo ship and was received at South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT) on 22 August 2013. “Inside this container, among the plastic rubble there were 17,250 grease tins. Each was 300g in weight. Some of these tins contained heroin, 261kg to be precise, as confirmed by the Government Analyst’s Department. The Police has arrested a Pakistani, Faiz Aziz, and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mohamed Kameer. However, the mastermind, Azar Mohamed Kahn has fled the country well before the container reached Sri Lanka,” explained Prime Minister Jayaratne.