The owner of the boat allegedly used to transfer the stock of 231 kg of heroin seized yesterday (06) has been arrested in Yatiyanthota with Rs 1.5 million in cash, the Police Spokesman said.
Dinayadura Dulip Samantha de Silva, 44, a resident of Godella in Beruwala, was arrested at around 11.50am today at Pahala Garagoda in Yatiyanthota based on information received by a team of Yatiyanthota Police officers.
Police said that the suspect, who is the owner of the trawler, had jumped into the Kelani River as police officers attempted to arrest him, however the officers attached to Yatiyanthota Police had managed to capture the individual.
They found Rs 1.5 million in cash in the possession of the suspect while it had been uncovered that he had withdrawn the moneys from one his accounts at a bank in Yatiyanthota.
It has also been uncovered that the boat owner is the brother of one of the suspects arrested along with the massive heroin haul.
The Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) had arrested two persons in Beruwala-Balapitiya beach on Wednesday (05) night, with the second largest haul of heroin ever seized in the country.
Along with the suspects, a boat used to transport the drugs had also been apprehended.
The PNB found 231 kg 54 g of heroin, parceled in to 214 packets and hidden inside large sugar bags.
The two suspects, 38 year old Dilip Prasanna and 34 year old Mohamed Farzan, residents of Beruwala, were arrested in connection with the massive haul of drug.
The two suspects were yesterday produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrates Court which granted approval for police to detain and question the suspects for 7 days.
The heroin haul is estimated to be worth over Rs 2,778 million.
According to the Police, this is the second largest haul of heroin found in Sri Lanka.
The detection has been a result of an investigation conducted by the PNB over several weeks.
According to the Police Media Spokesperson, an internal conflict within the smugglers had helped the PNB with the raid.
Police suspect that the heroin might have been packed in Pakistan as Pakistani letters had been printed on some of the sugar bags.
PNB has received assistance from the Special Task Force, Sri Lanka Navy, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), foreign intelligence and the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, on this raid.
