CUSTOMS SEIZE RS.2MN WORTH CRYSTAL METH FROM INDIAN PASSENGER
Narcotics found within parcel of saris at Red Channel
An Indian national who tried to smuggle in a stock of Ice (Crystal Meth) worth over Rs.2 million from Tamil Nadu was nabbed by the Customs at the Red Channel of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) on Saturday morning.
Customs officials stationed at the BIA Arrival Terminal after screening the passenger’s baggage found the narcotics hidden inside a parcel of saris brought in for commercial purposes.
The 45-year-old male passenger who had come from Chennai on Spice Jet Flight SG001 had arrived in the country at 1.40 a.m. He was ordered to declare his goods as the passenger was seemingly carrying baggage that is more than of the personal baggage of a regular passenger.
Acting Customs Spokesman Deputy Director Vipula Minuwanpitiya told the Daily Mirror the foreigner was ordered to go through Customs ‘Red Channel’, where a passenger’s baggage’s are usually screened to determine his belongings.
“Passengers who have standard quantity of personal baggage and has nothing to declare may go through the Customs Green
Channel, where they are subjected to no screening. However, if a passenger is carrying baggage seemingly more than personal quantity or of commercial purpose will be subjected to check-up at the Customs Red Channel,” he said.
The Customs sleuths who opened the bulk baggage found 200grams of Ice, also known as Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine) carefully concealed within a parcel of thirty saris, which had been packed and tied using a commercial packing machine.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that the suspect who was a resident of Namakkal in Tamil Nadu had visited Sri Lanka on several previous occasions and
Preliminary inquiries revealed that the suspect who was a resident of Namakkal in Tamil Nadu had visited Sri Lanka on several previous occasions and the Customs suspect the man had acted as a narcotics carrier
the Customs suspect the man had acted as a narcotics carrier.
DDC Minuwanpitiya said a gram of Ice in wholesale bulk is sold at Rs.10,000 whilst at street level the lose quantities of the drug is sold between Rs.15, 000 to 17, 000 a gram.
Customs Superintendents M.i.m.ismail, D.w.k.wijetunge, H.E.D. Perera and K.A. Rodrigo with Assistant Superintendents Amila Bandara, H.A.P.N. Gunawardena, W. N. D. C. Goonewardena, J.V. D. Wickramasooriya and L.S. Gamage conducted the detection on the instructions of Customs Director (BIA) M.A. Karunaratne with Deputy Directors V. Minuwanpitiya, S. P. Kiriwaththuduwa and R. Rushandan.
The suspect along with the contraband was handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) for further investigations. He is likely to be produced in courts by the PNB today.