A 55-year-old luxury bus driver from Okawela has died after a packet of crystal methamphetamine — commonly known as “ICE” — concealed inside his stomach ruptured and released the substance into his bloodstream, police said. Newswire reported the death citing investigators in the southern town of Tangalle.
The driver, employed on a service running between Tangalle and Makumbura along the Southern Expressway, fell seriously ill shortly after the bus reached its terminus on Monday (June 8). He was rushed to the Tangalle Base Hospital but succumbed during treatment.
A post-mortem examination conducted at the Tangalle Hospital found two drug packets inside the driver’s stomach. Medical officers confirmed that one packet had ruptured, releasing the narcotic into his bloodstream and causing fatal poisoning, Newswire reported. Police have begun investigations into how the consignment was procured and who organised the trafficking attempt.
Internal-concealment trafficking — known in police terminology as “stomach swallowing” — has historically been associated with international airport interdictions rather than domestic expressway routes, and a fatal rupture inside Sri Lanka is rare. The Southern Expressway corridor between Makumbura and the deep south has become a recurring route for ICE and heroin movement in recent enforcement cycles, with the Police Narcotics Bureau and STF intercepting multiple consignments at expressway entry and exit points.
The case adds an unusual fatality to a year in which the President’s national anti-drug drive has logged more than 186,000 arrests and the seizure of nearly two tonnes of heroin, two tonnes of ICE and 289 kilograms of cocaine since late 2024. Investigators are expected to publish the post-mortem report and confirm the final cause of death after toxicology screening.
