Iranians nabbed with heroin worth Rs 900 m

Sandasen Marasinghe

Two Iranians were arrested with a rare variety of heroin worth Rs 900 million at the Bandaranaike International Airport yesterday.

Airport Customs Deputy Director J Kodituwakku told the Daily News that this heroin, Matter Amphetamine identified as ice, is very rare. This eight kg detection was the biggest haul ever detected in Sri Lanka.

He said the heroin was packed in the suspects’ travelling bags which cannot be detected by X-ray machines. However, an Assistant Superintendent of the Airport Customs detected the heroin. The suspects were aged between 30 and 35 and had left Doha and arrived in Sri Lanka at 3.00 a.m yesterday.

They had begun their journey from Damascus. The Customs Narcotics Division has requested Police Narcotics Bureau support for further investigations. Kodituwakku told that the variety detected was very expensive and was of high quality.

A single gram is worth of US $985. This variety of heroin has been detected in Sri Lanka only thrice. One suspect had visited Sri Lanka several times. The two are in the custody of the customs.

Meanwhile it is reported that another Iranian was arrested by police from a Colombo hotel with more heroin in his possession, eight kilograms, acting on information given by his colleagues who were arrested earlier in the day at the Airport.