Three Arrested After 856kg Drug Bust Off Tangalle

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka Police have arrested three suspects, including a boat operator in connection with the record-breaking narcotics cache discovered floating off the Tangalle coast.

The arrests were made by a team from the Police Special Task Force (STF), and the suspects are to be handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further questioning.

The seizure, which stunned law enforcement agencies, involved 51 floating parcels recovered by the Sri Lanka Navy yesterday (14) and brought to the Tangalle fisheries harbor.

The haul weighed 856 kilograms, comprising 670 kg of crystal methamphetamine (‘Ice’), 156 kg of heroin, and over 12 kg of hashish—one of the largest narcotics seizures in Sri Lankan history.

Investigators believe the consignment belongs to a leading drug trafficker operating in the Southern Province. 

Senior police officials revealed that the drugs were smuggled into Sri Lankan waters aboard four boats, which disabled communication systems before entering the coastline. 

Fearing intensified security operations, the traffickers allegedly dumped the narcotics into the sea and fled.

The joint operation was conducted by the Sri Lanka Navy and Police, with the seized drugs already handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for detailed investigations.