Indian arrested at Sri Lanka airport with cocaine worth LKR 108 million

Colombo: A 60-year-old Indian national was arrested on Friday with cocaine worth 108 million Sri Lankan rupees at the Colombo airport, officials said.

The suspect, a geologist by profession, arrived from Uganda via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight, said airport narcotics officials.

He was concealing more than 2 kilograms of drugs in his luggage.

“During a thorough examination of the checked baggage of the passenger, customs officers uncovered approximately 2.15 kilograms of cocaine, meticulously concealed inside the luggage," an official statement said.

It added that the estimated street value of the seized cocaine is approximately 108 million Sri Lankan rupees (approximately USD 332,000).

This comes days after another Indian national was arrested at the same airport for carrying more than four kilograms of Kush cannabis, believed to be worth 43.8 million Sri Lankan rupees.