The Sri Lanka Navy has seized approximately 161 kilograms of heroin and arrested four men during an operation in deep waters, police said on Friday.
The suspects, aged 24, 36, 46 and 48, were apprehended on April 17 while transporting the consignment aboard a fishing vessel. All four are reported to be residents of the Devinuwara area in the Southern Province.
Naval personnel escorted the vessel to the Dikowita Fisheries Harbour, where officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau took custody of the suspects and the seized narcotics. A total of 161 kilograms and 108 grams of suspected heroin was recovered from the boat.
The four detainees are to be produced before the Colombo Chief Magistrate’s Court. Further investigations are being conducted by the Police Narcotics Bureau.
The seizure is among the larger maritime drug interdictions this year. A Rs. 4 billion heroin haul was brought to the same Dikowita harbour earlier in April, while the navy has reported interdicting ten drug trafficking trawlers in the first quarter of 2026.
Dikowita has emerged as the principal landing point for vessels intercepted during offshore narcotics operations, reflecting a broader pattern of heroin shipments moving through fishing fleets off Sri Lanka’s western coast.
