A 41-year-old Dematagoda three-wheeler driver was arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport on Friday morning with 7.5 kilograms of synthetic cannabis known as “Kush”, valued by Customs at roughly Rs. 75 million.
The Customs Narcotics Control Unit and Airport Customs intercepted the suspect as he attempted to walk through the Green Channel of the arrivals terminal at Katunayake, Ada Derana reported. He had landed at 9.35 a.m. aboard SriLankan Airlines flight UL-403 from Bangkok.
On inspection, officers recovered approximately 7 kilograms and 500 grams of Kush from his luggage, concealed in 12 airtight packets. The suspect and the seized narcotics were handed over to officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) stationed at the airport for further investigation.
The arrest extends a sustained pattern of Bangkok-routed Kush trafficking attempts through BIA over the past two months, with previous Customs cases including an Indonesian national caught with Kush worth Rs. 60 million, a youth held with a Rs. 80 million consignment, a wedding photographer with Kush worth Rs. 25 million and a Pita Kotte resident with 512g of the drug. Almost all the recent Kush seizures at the airport have come off Bangkok flights, with couriers ranging from professional smugglers to first-time mule recruits.
Kush — a high-potency synthetic cannabinoid blend that originated in West Africa — has become one of Sri Lanka’s most rapidly growing illicit imports this year. The Police Narcotics Bureau has previously attributed the trafficking surge to high street prices in Sri Lanka relative to source markets in Southeast Asia.
Sources: Ada Derana, NewsFirst.
