The officers attached to the Narcotic Control unit at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake have arrested a passenger at the Green Channel who arrived from Sierra Leon last morning on suspicion of trafficking narcotic substances.
The officers put the suspect through the body scanner at the Customs area and identified that the passenger had concealed drugs in his person.
The 32-year-old suspect is a Sierra Leon national and had arrived in Sri Lanka via Istanbul by flight TK 730 operated by Turkish Airlines in the morning yesterday (12).
The suspect was admitted to the Negombo Hospital and 17 pellets suspected of containing narcotics have been retrieved so far.
The suspect has confessed that more pellets are in his stomach.
The retrieved pellets and the suspect were handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further investigation.
The estimated street value of the arrested cocaine pellets is around Rs. 13 million, according to Sri Lanka Customs.
Sri Lanka Customs Narcotic Control Unit has requested the assistance of the Police Narcotic Bureau and further investigations are underway.
