Second largest haul of Heroin in Sri Lanka discovered

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The second largest haul of heroin to be seized from the country has been discovered in the sea off Beruwala. The President recently ordered senior officials of the Police Department to take urgent measures to stop illegal drug trafficking in the country. The Head of State had also requested a report regarding raids that were conducted for a three month period. On several occasions the President emphasized that action must be taken to suppress the drug menace in the country. It was at this juncture the President brought the police department under the purview of the Ministry of Defense. Against this backdrop, a haul of heroin with a market value of more than Rs. 2700 million was discovered this morning (December 06) through a joint operation executed by the Police Narcotics Bureau, the STF and the Navy. The heroin, which weighs approximately 231 kilograms, was discovered between the Beruwala and Balapitiya coastal line. Police investigations said that the heroin could have originated from Pakistan. Two suspects connected to the incident have already been arrested and the police said that they will be detained and interrogated for seven days. Speaking to News 1st, Police Spokesperson SP Ruwan Gunasekara confirmed the following details. He said that one suspect is a 38-year-old individual named Dilip Susantha, while the other is a 34 year named Mohamed Rizvi Mohamed Farzan. The spokesperson further said that the investigation was conducted over several weeks and that the raid was made easier due to various internal conflicts among the drug dealers.