Peliyagoda drug bust yields Rs.4bn worth of Cocaine
The Police Narcotics Bureau announced that the total value of the Cocaine discovered from a container yard in Peliyagoda is over four billion rupees.
This is incidentally the largest Cocaine haul seized in the country.The contraband was discovered following an inspection of two suspicious cargo containers placed at the Container Yard in Peliyagoda.
It was initially announced that the contraband weighed 273 kilogrammes. However, following a re-calculation it was revised to 301 kilogrammes. The Cocaine was discovered after two cargo containers were inspected on Thursday and Friday.
A ship carrying sugar reached Sri Lankan shores on Wednesday from Brazil via Portugal. The sugar consignment had been imported under the name of a company based in Pettah which has been importing sugar to the country for over 25 years.
On June 14, police seized 25 kilogramme of Heroin from a cargo container with sugar imported from Brazil by the company in question.The company had imported sugar for consumption in Sri Lanka this time around as well.
What is significant is that, it was the respective company that had informed the police to inspect eight suspicious cargo containers.Police suspect that the consignment of Cocaine had been imported to the country in order to be re-exported.
Investigations are underway as to how these two cargo containers managed to be freed from customs undetected.
The plant from which cocaine is manufactured from , known as Coca is native to western South America. However later it spread to the Asian region.The cocaine ring is most famous in Europe and cCcaine is distributed to other countries from Nigeria, Brazil and several island nations. Cocaine looks similar to sugar, however a simple over-dose can be fatal and would result in death.
Cocaine was discovered on several occasions in Sri Lanka over the recent months.
On February 14, 2016, a Venezuelan woman who arrived in the country after swallowing 87 cocaine pills was arrested.
On May 2, 2016, eight Nigerian nationals arrested with 220 grammes of Cocaine. Later that same month,1.2 kg of Cocaine was seized by police from the garden of the neighbouring house where the arrested Nigerians were living in down Gemunu Mawatha, Ragama.
On May 05, 2016 , a drug ring where Cocaine was skillfully embedded on to string and later being sold was uncovered
On June 14, 2016, a Sugar container with 25 kilogrammes of Cocaine imported from Brazil was discovered.
The latest bust involves Cocaine with a street value of almost five billion rupees, discovered from two cargo containers.
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