NARCOTICS WORTH RS. 250M SEIZED IN 2020: CUSTOMS

COLOMBO (News 1st): Drugs and narcotics worth Rs. 250 million were seized in the year 2020, Sri Lanka Customs said. "During the course of the new year (2021), narcotics worth over Rs. 135 million were seized so far, Sunil Jayaratne Additional Director at Sri Lanka Customs and Customs Spokesperson said on Saturday (Jan. 09). According to Jayaratne, drugs, and narcotics worth Rs. 140 million were seized by Sri Lanka Customs in 2019. There is an increasing trend of narcotics being smuggled to the country by using courier services, via the Central Mail Exchange, he noted. "This is due to restrictions on movement imposed in line with the COVID-19 pandemic, where drug smugglers are encouraged to import and bring down narcotics by using new routes," Customs Spokesperson Sunil Jayaratne further pointed out.