Navy intercepts foreign vessel with 250 kilos of hell dust

by Norman Palihawadane

A foreign fishing vessel carrying more than 250 kilos of heroin was intercepted and six suspects were taken into custody by the Navy during a recent operation conducted in international waters.

The Navy said this operation had been carried out with the assistance of the Police Narcotic Bureau after several days of continuous surveillance in the international waters about 900 nautical miles south of Sri Lanka.

The drug carrying vessel along with six foreign suspects aboard were being escorted ashore by a naval craft at the time this edition went to press.

The Navy said that the vessel was carrying 225 packets of narcotics, contained in nine sacks, weighed over 250 kilos.

In recent anti-drug operations conducted by the Navy, on the high seas, a local multi-day fishing vessel with 290 kilos of heroin was seized on Aug 30.

Similarly, the Navy intercepted two more foreign fishing vessels carrying over 336.1 kilos of heroin in two separate operations on 04 and 10 Sept.

Besides the stock of drug substances seized during the recent operation, the Navy took into custody narcotics worth over Rs. 13.16 billion so far this year.

The foreign vessel and the suspects would be handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau for investigations and onward legal action, the Navy said, adding that operations would continue.