The unit to combat illegal liquor and drugs of the Ministry of Finance says that the consignment of Cocaine discovered from the Orugodawatte Container Yard today, is the single most valued discovery of Cocaine made in the country, as the street value of a kilogramme of Cocaine stays at Rs. 30 million and it weighs at 85 kilogrammes.

The Cocaine was discovered within a container imported by a business located in Pettah which had been importing sugar for over 25 years. The origin of the container was Brazil. The Police Special Task Force said that it was tipped that narcotics were being smuggled inside these containers over a period of time.

Although the cargo container has been scanned by customs, there was no indication that it contained narcotics. Afterwards, the Police Special Task Force and the Unit for combating illegal liquor and drugs of the Ministry of Finance Narcotic, re-examined the cargo.

Head of the Unit for combating illegal liquor and drugs, Ministry of Finance, Wing Commander (Rtd) Ravi Jayasinghe stated that it was an organised smuggling ring.  He added that they hope to conduct further operations since the possibility of smuggling narcotics into the country is high.

Commanding STF officer, DIG Ranjith Perera stated that they need machinery that could identify and detect drugs

President Maithripala Sirisena visited the Orugodawatte Container Yard on
Tuesday evening to inspect the seized narcotics.

The Unit for combating illegal liquor and drugs of the Ministry of Finance said that the Head of the Sugar Importing Business was arrested. Investigations are underway to locate another suspect who is abroad. The suspect will be handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for investigations.

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