A 66-year-old woman from Mannar has been arrested by the Police Unlawful Assets Investigation Division on charges of pawning and selling 360 sovereigns of gold that had allegedly been purchased by her son-in-law using money earned through drug smuggling from South India between 2019 and 2023.
According to the police, the suspect involved in the drug trafficking had acquired several assets using the illicit funds, including a two-storey house, another house with five shops, a car, and gold jewellery weighing nearly 360 sovereigns.
Police said a case had already been filed in the Mannar High Court regarding the two houses and the car, and court orders had been obtained to prohibit the use of those properties.
During the investigation into the gold jewellery, it was revealed that the suspect’s mother-in-law had pawned the ornaments at several financial institutions in the Mannar area and later sold them to jewellery shops.
Police stated that she was arrested yesterday (15) evening as knowingly using property derived from illegal activities constitutes an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Further investigations are being conducted by the Police Unlawful Assets Investigation Division.
