Sri Lankan authorities make a massive drug haul

Sri Lankan authorities have seized 103.9 kg of heroin worth seven million US dollars in one of the country's biggest drug busts, officials said on Monday.

Two suspects have been arrested following the raid, reports Xinhua news agency.

The drugs were found hidden in a jeep in Kalubowila here and in a house in Battaramulla on the outskirts of Colombo, police said.

Two gas cylinders used for keeping the drugs, three mobile phones and two electronic scales used for weighing the contraband were also seized.

The Sri Lankan government recently stated that the island country had become a transit point for major drug cartels as a consequence of the illicit activities of Tamil rebels.

Major drug cartels also took advantage of the strategic location of the country and made it a transit point for their drug smuggling operations.

In 2016, Sri Lanka's Police Narcotics Bureau detected over 900 kg of cocaine in an India-bound ship docked at the Colombo port. This was the largest cocaine seizure in South Asia with an estimated value of $76 million.

--IANS

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