The BIA Kush arrest involved a Filipino woman carrying 6.18kg of cannabis, while an unrelated Dompe raid uncovered ice, mines and ammunition.
KATUNAYAKE, Sri Lanka: An arrest of Kush at Bandaranaike International Airport led police to detain a 63-year-old Filipino woman who allegedly attempted to smuggle 6.18 kilograms of the drug into Sri Lanka.
Officers attached to the Police Narcotics Bureau Airport Unit arrested the woman at the arrival terminal of Bandaranaike International Airport during the early hours of Tuesday, July 14.
Police said the woman had allegedly attempted to bring six kilograms and 180 grams of kush into the country. Kush is commonly used to describe high-grade cannabis.
The Police Narcotics Bureau Airport Unit continues to hold the suspect while officers conduct further investigations. Authorities have not yet publicly disclosed her travel route, the suspected origin of the drugs or the intended recipient in Sri Lanka.
BIA Kush Arrest Announced Alongside Dompe Raid
The airport arrest was announced alongside a separate narcotics operation conducted a day earlier in Parangoda, Dompe.
However, police have not said that the two cases are connected. The suspects were arrested in different locations by separate police units, and the operations involved different narcotics.
During the Dompe operation on Monday, July 13, officers from the Police Special Task Force’s Gonahena Camp arrested a 23-year-old local man.
The intelligence-led raid reportedly uncovered nine kilograms and 128 grams of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known in Sri Lanka as ice.
STF officers also recovered three anti-personnel landmines, three fuses, 20 rounds of M16 ammunition, five swords, an electronic weighing scale and a motorcycle.
The presence of weighing equipment, ammunition and explosive devices is expected to form an important part of the investigation. However, police have not publicly identified the suspect as a member of any particular criminal organisation.
Police Have Not Confirmed a Link Between Cases
Together, the two operations resulted in the seizure of more than 15 kilograms of illegal narcotics. Nevertheless, they should not be presented as one coordinated investigation unless police establish a connection.
The BIA Kush arrest remains under investigation by the Police Narcotics Bureau Airport Unit. Meanwhile, authorities are separately examining the origin of the methamphetamine and weapons recovered in Dompe.
Investigators are expected to determine who supplied the narcotics, where they were intended to be distributed and whether other suspects assisted those arrested.
Police said further investigations into both incidents were continuing. No official evidence has so far been released linking the Filipino woman arrested at BIA with the 23-year-old suspect detained in Dompe.
