President Maithripala Sirisena inspected the seized stock of cocaine at the Orugodawatta Container Clearing Yard.
The cocaine stock was detected by the Special Task Force of the Police and the Finance Ministry’s Special Unit for Narcotics Raids yesterday (14th June).
The approximate weight of the smuggled narcotics is 91.3 kilograms and was valued as Rs. 2 billion.
Officers of the Special Narcotics Raid Unit of the Finance Ministry in collaboration with the Special Task Force of the Police carried out a search operation to identify the suspicious container since Monday afternoon. Later, the officers identified the container at the Orugodawatta Container Yard in which the contraband of cocaine was concealed among sacks of sugar.
The raid was carried out on a tip-off received by the Finance Ministry’s Special Unit for Narcotics Raids.
During the inspection tour the President instructed the officials to hand over this investigation to a special probe team for further investigations.
He also stressed that the government’s efforts to combat the illicit drug menace will be further strengthened.
President Sirisena commended the officers involved in the detection.
Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake accompanied President Sirisena.