Police have recovered more than 80 grams of cocaine from a Jamaican woman held over a drug seizure in Kollupitiya, after the drug was passed during a medical examination at the National Hospital of Colombo, NewsFirst reported.
The suspect had swallowed the consignment. NewsFirst says the cocaine was found during a medical examination while she was receiving treatment at the national hospital. Newswire reports that it was recovered from excrement passed by the suspect on Friday (16), and that the examination was carried out under a court order issued to establish whether the suspects had concealed cocaine inside their bodies.
That detail matters: on this account the recovery was not incidental to treatment but the result of a deliberate judicial instruction.
The underlying case
The woman was among a group of Jamaican nationals arrested on 12 October during a raid at a hotel and a shopping complex in Kollupitiya, carried out by the Colombo District Crime Division on information received.
The suspects were produced before the Fort Magistrate’s Court and detained under a seven-day detention order for further questioning. The cocaine was recovered in the course of that interrogation period.
The filings do not agree on the numbers
How many were arrested. NewsFirst reports three Jamaican nationals, including two women. Newswire reports four — two men and two women. Hiru News, filing on 13 October, also reported four Jamaican nationals including two women, as did Ada Derana, whose 13 October headline reads “Four Jamaicans including two women arrested with over 1kg of cocaine in Colpetty.” On the weight of three independent accounts against one, four appears to be correct and NewsFirst’s figure the outlier.
How much was seized. NewsFirst puts the original haul at 1 kilogram and 46 grams; Newswire gives 1.46 kilograms. These cannot both be right, and they differ by roughly 400 grams. Hiru and Ada Derana say only “more than one kilogram,” which is the sole figure every account supports.
How much was recovered. NewsFirst states “80 grams and 9 milligrams” — a quantity that would be 80.009g. Newswire gives 80.9 grams.
The distribution angle
Hiru News reported on 13 October that the four were arrested while engaged in distributing drugs to nightclubs in Colombo, citing the Police Media Division. Neither of today’s filings mentions a distribution network, and the allegation has not been tested in court. Hiru’s report is noted here for context rather than cited as a source for the current development, as it falls outside this desk’s source-recency window.
Not reported
Neither filing names the suspects, gives their ages, or states whether they have been charged with any offence beyond being held for questioning. It is not said whether the remaining suspects were also examined under the same court order, or whether anything was recovered from them.
No street value is given for either the original seizure or the recovered 80 grams. Neither report says how the group entered Sri Lanka, how long they had been in the country, or whether any Sri Lankan nationals are under investigation. The date the seven-day detention order expires is not stated.
