A stock of ‘Kush’ narcotic, valued at Rs. 51.4 million, was detected at the Bandaranaike International Airport yesterday (20) by officers of the Police Narcotics Division.

Airport authorities said the drugs were detected while a Sri Lankan passenger was attempting to leave the airport.

The suspect, a 32-year-old businessman from Muttur, is reported to have purchased the drug haul in Bangkok before transporting them to Bangalore. He had subsequently arrived in Sri Lanka at around 12.30 a.m. yesterday.

Police said the narcotics had been concealed in two suitcases fitted with false bottoms. The haul, packed into four parcels, weighed a total of 5.14 kilos.The suspect is currently in custody, while further investigations are underway.

Apropos our article titled ‘Crypto loopholes funnel Lankan funds abroad,’ on 14th March, 2026, Binance has stated: “These allegations pertain solely to the actions of specific parties; Binance takes action alongside law enforcement to combat fraudulent or illegal activities and remains deeply committed to ensuring the safety and security of all its users.

Binance has already fully cooperated with Sri Lankan law enforcement authorities, by providing the necessary support and information in response to requests. As an Abu Dhabi Global Markets licensed exchange with a fully KYC-ed user base, globally, Binance will continue to support law enforcement agencies throughout the investigation of the bad actors involved. Binance’s share of users and fully licensed status will continue to be a net positive to law enforcement agencies in these situations.

Binance invests hundreds of millions of US dollars in its compliance programme, and a significant share of these resources is dedicated to maintaining a world-class compliance team. 25% of all Binance staff work in compliance. Binance remains committed to maintaining robust compliance policies, modelled on global standards, including Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures.

Transparency, user safety, and regulatory cooperation remain at the core of Binance’s mission, and we remain committed to working collaboratively with authorities to uphold these principles.”

The Kandy South Labour Office has launched a special programme to commence the payment of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) contributions and gratuity payments which have remained unpaid since 2010 to the estate labour community of the Janatha Estates Development Board (JEDB) in the Kandy District.

Due to various reasons, the relevant company had failed to pay these entitlements to estate workers, country-wide. As the government has allocated Rs. 2000 million, from the previous Budget, to expedite these long-overdue payments, investigations have been fast-tracked to begin disbursing benefits to the rightful beneficiaries.

Under the supervision of the Assistant Commissioner of Labour for the Kandy District, Ms. Padma Ratnayake, a team of officers, including Senior Labour Officer of the Kandy South Labour Office, Upul Ariyaratne, has taken steps to visit the Loolkandura Estate, in Galaha, to collect information from the workers. Special investigations are currently underway in several areas of the Kandy District where the majority of JEDB estates are located, with the aim of ensuring these benefits reach the correct claimant, or their dependents, accurately.

The labour community, who dedicated their labour to the country, had been severely distressed due to the non-payment of these benefits for 16 years. Approximately 4,500 workers, who served under the said estate company, and were entitled to these benefits, had made various requests, while others had initiated legal action against the failure to pay these contributions.

By S.K. Samaranayake