Police seized nearly 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, known as ‘Ice’, at the Colombo Port on Monday and put its street value at more than Rs. 8 billion. A businessman from Dematagoda has been arrested.

The raid was carried out jointly by the Police Narcotics Bureau and the Central Crime Investigation Bureau acting on information received, Ada Derana reported. Suspicious containers were inspected and opened with the assistance of Sri Lanka Customs, and the contents then weighed. Deputy Inspector General of Police Ashoka Dharmasena gave the quantity weighed so far as approximately 463 kilograms.

The figure rose three times in one day

The reported quantity climbed through Monday, and the outlets’ figures should be read against the time each filed rather than as contradictions.

Ada Derana, the Daily Mirror and Hiru News each first reported a consignment of suspected Ice found inside a container by Central Crime Investigation Bureau officers, with no quantity given. Ada Derana then put it at 420 kilograms alongside news of the arrest. NewsFirst reported more than 440 kilograms about half an hour later, and stated explicitly that weighing operations were still under way and the final quantity could change. Ada Derana’s evening filing gave 463 kilograms.

NewsFirst’s note that weighing was continuing accounts for the rising series. One point is not resolved: Ada Derana’s evening report describes narcotics recovered from two containers, while its own earlier filing and NewsFirst both refer to a single container.

Route and cover story

The two outlets carry different details of how the shipment reached Colombo, and neither set has been matched by the other.

Ada Derana reported that the consignment was brought into Sri Lanka from Pakistan, concealed inside towels packed in a container, and that the operation followed a court order. NewsFirst reported that the container arrived from Pakistan in June, was declared as a consignment of towels under a re-export arrangement, and that investigators believe the drugs were intended for onward shipment to Cameroon. NewsFirst gave the arrested suspect’s age as 44 and said investigators are working to trace the wider network behind the shipment.

Only Ada Derana has published a value for the haul or named an officer. Only NewsFirst has reported the June arrival date, the Cameroon destination or the re-export cover.

What has not been reported

No outlet has said when the suspect will be produced before court, on what charges he was arrested, or whether anyone else has been detained. None has reported which shipping line or agent handled the containers, or — if NewsFirst’s June arrival date is correct — why the containers were inspected only now.

Nor has any outlet placed the seizure against previous hauls at the port, so it is not clear from the reporting whether 463 kilograms is a record for Sri Lanka.

Sources