Police have arrested a man at a rented house in Kirindiwela with a consignment of crystal methamphetamine — known locally as “ice” — that both reporting newsrooms value at about Rs. 22.5 million.
The drugs were found during a search of a house at Dikkandawatta, Kirindiwela, carried out by officers attached to the Ganemulla Police, Hiru News reported. NewsFirst put the value at approximately Rs. 22.5 million as well.
The suspect, who was living in the house as a tenant, is a resident of Minuwangoda, according to Hiru. He is due to be produced before the Pugoda Magistrate’s Court, NewsFirst reported.
How the raid came about
The two accounts describe different triggers for the search.
Hiru reports that the raid followed extensive questioning of a suspect arrested in Ganemulla a few days earlier, and that information disclosed during that questioning led officers to the Kirindiwela house. NewsFirst says only that the raid was carried out on a tip-off received by police.
Under questioning, the man told police the stock had been supplied to him by a drug trafficker from Minuwangoda who is currently in hiding in Dubai, Hiru reported. Police said he had rented the Kirindiwela house specifically to run the trafficking operation.
The reports differ on the quantity and what else was seized
Two verified newsrooms filed on the same raid within about fifteen minutes of each other on Saturday evening, and they do not agree on the detail.
- Quantity. Hiru says “over two kilograms” of ice. NewsFirst gives a specific figure of 1.85 kilograms. Those are not compatible: 1.85 kg is below two kilograms, not above it. Both outlets nonetheless arrive at the same approximate street value of Rs. 22.5 million.
- Items seized alongside the drugs. Hiru says police also took two weighing scales and two mobile phones into custody. NewsFirst says a car in the suspect’s possession was seized. Neither outlet mentions the items the other reports.
Where the two agree — the locality, the rented house, the value and the substance — the account is firm. The quantity should be treated as unresolved until police give an official figure.
Context
Kirindiwela, in the Gampaha district, sits in a belt north-east of Colombo that features regularly in narcotics enforcement. A separate Security Task Force operation at Kadawatha in June recovered six kilograms of ice linked to a trafficking network, and the same town was the scene of a murder-suicide at Imbulahena on 30 September.
Crystal methamphetamine has displaced heroin as the drug driving the largest Sri Lankan seizures in recent years, and consignments are frequently traced to handlers operating from the Gulf — a pattern the Dubai claim in this case repeats.
Not reported
Neither outlet gives the suspect’s age, the date of the earlier Ganemulla arrest, or the name of the trafficker said to be in Dubai. Neither says whether the Police Narcotics Bureau is involved, whether further arrests are expected, or what court date has been set beyond NewsFirst’s statement that he will be produced on Sunday.
