Police have seized 2.8 kg of heroin and arrested one suspect after raiding a house in the Tangalle-Dikwella area, NewsFirst reported on Sunday morning.
The drugs were found at the property during the raid. The operation was carried out by the Western Province North Crime Division — a Colombo-area unit working well outside its own province, in the far south of the island.
The exhibit photograph dates the raid to Saturday
NewsFirst does not say when the raid took place. The photograph published with its report answers the question: it shows the seized package sealed in brown paper with string and wax seals in the standard form used for Sri Lankan court productions, hand-marked with the unit initials “WPNCD”, the production reference “PR.2211/26” and the date “26.09.26”.
On that evidence the seizure was made on Saturday, September 26, and reported the following morning. The marking also independently confirms the raiding unit NewsFirst named.
Not reported
NewsFirst does not name or describe the suspect, give the exact location of the house, state the estimated street value of the heroin, or say what led the Western Province North Crime Division to a property in the Southern Province. It does not say whether the suspect has been produced before a magistrate or held under a detention order, and no police officer is quoted by name.
A note on similar headlines
Searches for drug seizures at Tangalle return, above all, the very large haul found in the Seenimodara area of Tangalle in September 2025 — 705.91 kg of narcotics, comprising 284.94 kg of heroin and 420.976 kg of crystal methamphetamine, recovered from three lorries. That case is a year old and is a different matter entirely. This report concerns a 2.8 kg seizure made in September 2026 by a different unit.
Context
Southern coastal districts have featured repeatedly in this year’s narcotics enforcement. Police and the Navy have named the sea routes on either side of the island as the main channels for imports, with the Navy reporting seizures worth Rs. 55 billion so far in 2026, and inland detections have continued at pace, among them more than 17 kg of heroin and ICE at Piliyandala and 21 kg of drugs at Walgama in Matara.
We found no other verified newsroom carrying this seizure at the time of writing.
