A 79-year-old Spanish national has been arrested by the Sri Lanka Customs Narcotics Control Unit after authorities seized a consignment of cocaine with an estimated street value of nearly Rs. 110 million.
According to the Narcotics Control Unit, the suspect, an agricultural engineer, arrived in Sri Lanka on 22 July aboard Qatar Airways flight QR654, travelling from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa and Doha.
Customs officers initially inspected the hand luggage he carried upon arrival but found no suspicious items. However, as one of his checked bags had not arrived on the same flight, he was allowed to leave the airport after completing the required arrival formalities.
The delayed suitcase was later transported to Sri Lanka, and the suspect returned to the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, at around 6:30 p.m. on 24 July to claim it.
Before releasing the baggage, officers from the Sri Lanka Customs Narcotics Control Unit subjected it to an X-ray examination, during which suspicious contents were detected. A detailed physical inspection subsequently uncovered four parcels of cocaine that had been carefully concealed inside two document folders packed within the suitcase.
The seized cocaine weighed a total of 2.198 kilograms and has an estimated street value of approximately Rs. 109.9 million.
