Sri Lanka destroys nearly 800 kilos of cocaine

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police on Monday destroyed nearly 800 kilos (1,280 pounds) of cocaine in the presence of President Maithripala Sirisena, who has called for the death penalty for traffickers.

The drugs were seized in four raids between June 2016 and June 2018. More drugs await the conclusion of court cases before they are also destroyed under judicial supervision, officials said.

Sirisena vowed to step up his drug war and promised to import high tech equipment to detect narcotics at ports and airports, his office said in a statement.

Sirisena “reiterated his desire to carry out capital punishment for repeat drug offenders“, the statement added.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena (R) and Magistrate Lanka Jayarathne (C) watch Sri Lanka police personnel preparing to destroy 769 kilograms and 464 grams of Cocaine seized by the country's law enforcement agencies and to be destroyed in Kelaniya and in Puttalam near Colombo, Sri Lanka, 01 April 2019. Upon completion of the legal proceedings, the judiciary handed over the shipment to a private company, which was to be destroyed under its supervision. (EPA/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA)
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena (R) and Magistrate Lanka Jayarathne (C) watch Sri Lanka police personnel preparing to destroy 769 kilograms and 464 grams of Cocaine seized by the country's law enforcement agencies and to be destroyed in Kelaniya and in Puttalam near Colombo, Sri Lanka, 01 April 2019. Upon completion of the legal proceedings, the judiciary handed over the shipment to a private company, which was to be destroyed under its supervision. (EPA/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA)

Following a visit to the Philippines in January, Sirisena said he wanted to copy President Rodrigo Duterte’s strongarm tactics against illegal drugs.

He has vowed to end a 43-year moratorium on death penalty and execute repeat drug convicts, but is yet to sign a death warrant.

In February, police seized nearly 300 kilos of heroin worth $17 million, the island’s biggest haul, while in transit at a Colombo shopping mall.

In 2013, police seized 260 kilos of heroin brought into the country hidden inside tractors imported from Pakistan.

Sri Lanka’s biggest drug haul, by weight, was in December 2016 when police seized 800 kilos of cocaine. Six months earlier, authorities discovered 301 kilos of cocaine inside a shipping container.

Authorities believe the Indian Ocean island is also being used as a trafficking transit point.

Last week, nine Iranians were arrested transporting 100 kilos of heroin in a trawler. - AFP

Sri Lanka police personnel prepare to destroy 769 kilograms and 464 grams of Cocaine seized by the country's law enforcement agencies and to be destroyed in Kelaniya and in Puttalam near Colombo, Sri Lanka, 01 April 2019. ( EPA/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA)
Sri Lanka police personnel prepare to destroy 769 kilograms and 464 grams of Cocaine seized by the country's law enforcement agencies and to be destroyed in Kelaniya and in Puttalam near Colombo, Sri Lanka, 01 April 2019. ( EPA/M.A.PUSHPA KUMARA)

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