Sri Lanka Customs officers have arrested a 27-year-old Canadian national at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) over an attempt to smuggle more than 20 kilograms of hashish into the country, according to Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror.
The suspect, who works as a painter, was detained in the early hours of Sunday (July 26) shortly after arriving in Sri Lanka. Officers attached to the Customs Narcotics Control Unit discovered 20 kilograms and 117 grams of brown-coloured hashish concealed in 80 slabs across two pieces of luggage, officials said. The seizure is valued at approximately Rs. 201.89 million.
Investigators believe the man had purchased the narcotics in Toronto, Canada, before travelling to Doha, Qatar, and boarding a connecting flight to Colombo. He arrived at the Katunayake airport at around 2.30 a.m. aboard Qatar Airways flight QR-662, the Daily Mirror reported.
The suspect and the seized narcotics are to be handed over to officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) stationed at the airport for further investigation.
The interception is the latest in a series of drug-smuggling attempts detected at the country’s main international gateway, where Customs officers have stepped up baggage screening on arriving passengers. Earlier seizures at the airport this year have included several kilograms of hashish and cocaine carried by foreign nationals travelling through Middle Eastern transit hubs.
