Suspected narcotics haul recovered from southern seas brought to Tangalle Harbour

UPDATE: The 51 packages discovered floating in the seas off the southern coast, recovered by the Sri Lanka Navy and brought to the Tangalle Fisheries Harbour, have been confirmed to contain ‘ice’ (crystal methamphetamine), hashish, and heroin, according to the Sri Lanka Navy.

Over 50 floating parcels suspected to contain drugs have been found drifting in the sea off the southern coast and were brought to the Tangalle Fisheries Harbour this evening (14).

It has been reported that these parcels, suspected of containing narcotics including heroin and ‘Ice’, were recovered earlier today (14).

According to the Navy, three of the parcels are suspected to contain heroin, while the remaining 48 are believed to contain ‘ice’ (crystal methamphetamine).

It is further reported that the drug consignment is suspected to belong to the drug trafficker known as ‘Unakuruwe Shantha’.

The Sri Lanka Navy had earlier today (14) discovered around 50 such parcels floating in the sea off the southern coast.

The Director of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), SSP Hemal Prashantha, had previously received information in early September regarding an attempt to smuggle a consignment of drugs into the country using three vessels.

Accordingly, the Navy and the PNB, under the direct supervision of the Inspector General of Police, conducted search operations in the Dondra and Tangalle sea areas for 32 days.

During the operations, authorities had contacted the crews of the vessels in question; however, they had not provided any specific information. It was also revealed that the VMS (Vessel Monitoring System) installed on the vessels had been deactivated to conceal their locations.

Although the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) also took part in the operation, no information was obtained regarding the whereabouts of the three vessels.