Police raided a three-storey house in the Nalluruwa area of Panadura on Friday evening (25) that had allegedly been rented by a large-scale drug trafficker known as “DJ Chathu” and used as a packaging and distribution base.

The premises were also allegedly used to print logos onto drug packets, Hiru News reports.

The operation was led by Chief Inspector Rohan Vishwanath after the Panadura Division Crime Investigation Bureau received a confidential tip-off about the property, which neighbours had noticed was kept suspiciously closed.

What officers found

Investigators established that the house had been rented for Rs. 70,000 a month. Items recovered included:

One room was fitted with advanced communication equipment and large screens said to have been used to keep in contact with people overseas. CCTV cameras covered the interior and exterior of the property and could be monitored remotely.

The alleged network

The network was allegedly run from abroad by a man identified as Randika, who is said to manage operations on behalf of an overseas-based large-scale trafficker and organised crime figure known as “Kudu Salindu”.

The suspects had left the area before officers arrived. A special police team has been deployed to trace them, and the Panadura Division Crime Investigation Bureau is continuing investigations.

Unclear in the source

Hiru states that the house was rented by the suspect “alongside his extramarital partner”, and that the recovered fake gold jewellery “was handed over to the suspect’s mother” — it is not clear from the account whether the jewellery was returned to her by police or had earlier been given to her by the suspect. No quantity or street value is given for the heroin beyond the five sample packets, no arrests are reported, and the real name of the man known as “DJ Chathu” is not given. The report does not say whether a search warrant was obtained.

Names in this report are as rendered by Hiru’s English service and have not been confirmed against a second newsroom.

Sources