Man with 25.7 grams of heroin gets life

Sandasen MARASINGHE

COLOMBO: Colombo High Court sentenced a person nabbed with 25.7 grams of heroin to life imprisonment.

Colombo High Court Judge W.A.T. Ratnayake convicted P. Manoj Ruwan Dambare of Colombo 14 for possessing 114 grams of heroin on May 29, 1998.

Dambare was taken into custody by the Police Narcotics Bureau led by Inspector Priyantha Liyanage on information from a private informant.

Dambare in his statement to the Police Narcotics Bureau stated that he was 26 years when taken in to custody in 1998. He passed the GCE Ordinary Level examination from a school in Modera but had to give up further education due to economic difficulties.

He stated that his brother was addicted to drugs and his step mother had also been imprisoned for seven months for possessing heroin. His father later joined the business despite Dambare's objections. But when he saw his father's quick monetary gains he too joined the business.

Dambare stated that he was successful in the business and he held his wedding at the BMICH. Later he was taken into custody by the Police Narcotics Bureus at his residence with 115 grams of heroin. The Government Analyst Department confirmed that it contained 25.7 grams of pure heroin.

State Counsel Shanil Kularatne appeared for the Attorney General.