A 24-year-old Sri Lankan resident of Grandpass, Colombo, has been arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) early on Sunday (10) for attempting to smuggle in 4.78 kilograms of hashish concealed in chocolate-style packaging.
The Airport Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) intercepted the suspect at around 12:30 a.m. on May 10 after he arrived on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, Thailand. During a baggage inspection, officers recovered 15 packets containing the narcotic, with a combined weight of 4 kilograms and 778 grams.
The PNB estimated the street value of the seizure at nearly Rs. 47.8 million.
The suspect is to be produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on Sunday, where investigators will seek detention orders to continue the inquiry into the smuggling network behind the consignment.
The arrest is the latest in a string of BIA narcotics interdictions linked to Bangkok-origin flights. On May 8, Customs officers seized 512 grams of kush concealed in food packets from another inbound passenger from Thailand, with a similar concealment pattern. The detection rate aligns with the wider Rata Ekata anti-narcotics drive and the recent islandwide crackdown that produced 540 arrests on May 8.
