The 11 foreign nationals, who were arrested with 101 kilograms of heroin being transported to Sri Lanka by a boat in the southern coast, have been granted permission to detain for seven days.

The permission was granted following a request made to the Fort Magistrate, Ada Derana reporter said.

The suspects, including 10 Iranians and a Pakistani national, were arrested following a joint operation carried out by the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) and Police Narcotics Bureau on April 01.

Drug dealers from Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaging in large scale drug trafficking activities in collaboration with the drug dealers in Sri Lanka while fishing trawlers are being used to transport massive consignments of narcotics into the island, Sri Lanka Navy said. 

During a joint mission carried out by the Navy and the Police Narcotics Bureau, a haul of 101 kg of narcotics was apprehended whilst transferring through the Southern coastal belt of Sri Lanka.  The consignment which was apprehended on 30th March 2016, is said to be the largest ever stock of narcotics apprehended at sea in the recent history.  

Although the mission of arresting the illegal drug smugglers were accomplished two days ago, the investigations are still underway to arrest the rest of the suspects in connection to this drug smuggling racket, SLN media unit said.