A 64-year-old South Korean man was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport on Sunday afternoon as he came to collect a suitcase containing cocaine valued at about Rs 49.44 million, police say.
Officers of the Airport Police Narcotics Bureau made the arrest, the Daily Mirror reported. The suspect is a carpenter by trade. Police said the Inspector General of Police received the intelligence that led to the arrest.
The bag arrived separately
The route is the unusual part. Police say the man flew from Tabuk Airport in Saudi Arabia to Dubai on 26 October, then on to Katunayake aboard Flydubai flight FZ-579.
The suitcase holding the cocaine was not loaded onto the aircraft he travelled on. It was sent to Katunayake later on a different flight. He returned to the airport on the afternoon of 1 November to collect the bag as missing luggage, and was detained there.
He is due to be produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on Monday along with the consignment, Hiru News reported. The Airport Police Narcotics Bureau is continuing its investigation.
On the value
The two filings agree on the figure despite appearing not to. Hiru’s headline renders the haul as “four crore” — about Rs 40 million — but its own text gives the full valuation as Rs 49,440,000, which is the Daily Mirror’s Rs 49.44 million exactly. The headline is a rounded-down figure, not a competing one.
Not reported
Neither filing gives the weight of the cocaine, only its valuation, and neither says how the valuation was reached. Neither states who tipped off the IGP, how long the bag sat at Katunayake before he came for it, or whether the man had travelled to Sri Lanka before. Neither reports whether anyone else is being sought, or what charges he will face on Monday.
