Sri Lanka Navy officials patrolling the southern seas discovered 51 parcels containing ice (methamphetamine) and heroin floating near Rekawa, Tangalle. According to Navy sources, the parcels contain over 1,000 kilograms of narcotics.
The suspicious white parcels were first spotted by officers aboard a patrol boat from the Tangalle Navy Base, about five nautical miles off the Tangalle coast. After informing their superiors, two additional vessels were dispatched to assist in retrieving the 51 parcels. All three vessels returned to the Tangalle Fisheries Harbour around 7 p.m. today.
Unofficial sources indicate that three of the parcels contain ice, while the remaining 48 contain heroin. Initial investigations suggest that the total weight of the drugs exceeds one ton.
A Navy officer told the media that the parcels would be weighed and properly recorded before being handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further investigation.
Navy Commander Vice Admiral Kanchana Banagoda was present at the Tangalle Fisheries Harbour to observe the operation, while Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Narcotics Control Bureau, Ashoka Dharmasinghe, supervised the handling and transfer of the seized drugs.
