Sri Lanka Navy uses satellite information to nab drug smuggling
March 05, 2020• Navy nabs three trawlers carrying 400 kgs of heroin and 100 Kgs of ICE off 600 nautical miles in southern seas
• Says Rs. 18 billion worth of illegal drugs busted during recent naval operations
Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) together with the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) have busted, the biggest ever haul of drugs at sea, stocked in three foreign fishing trawlers with 400 kilograms of heroin and 100 kilograms of the ICE (crystal methamphetamine) during a 25 day long joint operation, yesterday.
The two fishing boats with over 16 foreign drug smugglers have been taken into custody 600 nautical miles away off Southern seas by the Sri Lankan Navy.
“Apart from the intelligence sources, we also utilized satellite information with the support of various international sources to detect and analyse the tracks of suspicious small boats” Navy Commander Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva told the media.
He said human and drug smuggling at seas would be more difficult for smugglers now as the SLN was using latest technology in its naval operations to curb human and drug smuggling at seas.
“We have arrested suspects including foreigners involved in the racket”, he said addressing the media at the Dikowita Harbour where the whole package was brought ashore by the SLN, today.
PNB’s Deputy Inspector General Sajeewa Madawaththa said they had identified the three links -international, Asian and interior layers in which drug smuggling are being carried out in the country.
“As operations are still on, we will produce all those individuals, who are involved in this well connected racket, before the law” he said.
Samudura and Sayurala were the offshore patrol vessels deployed for the mission over the period. Racketeers had been doing this under the guise of fishing vessels without a country’s flag sailing suspiciously at sea.
The SLN has also recognized Sri Lankan fishing vessels, which were reaching the location to receive drug parcels from the smugglers.
“Nabbing of total drug inflow into the country via sea is not possible and practical, but it signifies the demand and consumption within the island”, Vice Admiral De Silva said.
“This initiative is team work and a top-down approach which backed by the government”. “Our expectation is to create a drug free nation for future generations” he noted.
He said drug menace was one of the mostly focused subjects apart from the national security that the top military officials were discussing at weekly Security Council meetings.
