Four passengers were arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday morning (25) for attempting to smuggle ‘Kush’ cannabis and Hashish with a combined street value of more than Rs. 216 million.

Three passengers were first apprehended by a joint team of Airport Customs officers and officials of the Customs Narcotics Control Division while they were trying to exit the arrival terminal, through the Green Channel.

The suspects, two 29-year-old residents of Nattandiya, a bricklayer and a businessman, and a 32-year-old businessman from Grandpass, Colombo, had arrived at Katunayake, at around 4.00 am, on 25 January, from Muscat, Oman, aboard Salam Air flight OV-437.

Customs officers recovered 10.4 kilos of ‘Kush’ packed in 10 parcels and 1.9 kilos of ‘Hashish’ concealed in 18 parcels. The narcotics were concealed in five suitcases. The total street value of the seized drugs is Rs. 133.94 million.

Arrangements have been made to hand over the suspects along with the seized narcotics to the BIA Police Narcotics Bureau branch for further investigations.

Subsequently, the police arrested another Sri Lankan national, who tried to smuggle 8.2 kilos of ‘Kush’ cannabis with a street value of approximately Rs. 82.2 million.

Police said the narcotics had been found concealed in eight packages hidden inside two pieces of the suspect’s hand luggage during an inspection. The suspect had arrived from Muscat, Oman earlier the same day.

The suspect was identified as a 37-year-old private security guard employed at a nightclub. He, along with the seized narcotics, would be produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court, police said.

by Norman Palihawadane and Chaminda Silva

The third consignment of coal supplied to the Norochcholai Lakvijaya power plant has been found to be substandard, the government has acknowledged, Pubudu Jayagoda, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party, said yesterday (25) in Polonnaruwa.

He added that any losses incurred should be recovered from those responsible instead of being passed on to the public.

Jayagoda said his party had raised concerns earlier about the quality of coal imported from an Indian company, but the government, particularly the Minister of Power and Energy, had rejected its complaint. Tests conducted by the government laboratory attached to the Norochcholai plant had confirmed that the first shipment had a low calorific value and a high ash content, but authorities failed to take action. A second test conducted by a laboratory in India confirmed the Sri Lankan report, yet the government decided to withhold the findings.

However, the plant’s electricity output and coal consumption revealed the problem. According to a CEB report issued on 21 January, the third shipment also failed to meet the required standards. Normally, the plant’s three generators produced a total of 810 MW (270 MW each), but the third shipment generated only around 715 MW—240 MW, 239 MW, and 236 MW from each generator, compared with a 300 MW capacity per unit. Power specialist Vidura Relpanawa confirmed that the coal quality was substandard.

Under the tender terms, if coal in two shipments failed to meet specifications, the contract is cancelled. Jayagoda said the government, which ignored warnings, had now admitted the problem in an English-language weekend newspaper.

Proposed solutions include emergency local purchases and inspection of coal at the unloading port to reject the substandard batches, steps which he said should have been taken earlier.

Jayagoda warned that delays had left less than three months for stockpiling the coal needed for the next year, beginning from the April cycle, and questioned the tender process.  He urged the authorities to recover losses from those responsible, curb corruption, and ensure the public is not burdened with the cost.

An organised criminal wanted on an international Red Notice was repatriated to Sri Lanka from India and was taken into custody on Saturday evening (24) following coordinated efforts between Sri Lankan and Indian authorities.

The suspect was arrested on arrival at Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake, by officers of the CID. He was later handed over to the Officer-in-Charge of the Keselwatte Police for further investigations.

Police said the repatriation followed direct discussions held by the Inspector General of Police with the Government of India, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka and Indian security authorities, coordinated through the Minister of Public Security and the Secretary to the Ministry.

The suspect, a 34-year-old resident of Keselwatte, is facing legal proceedings in connection with multiple offences committed across several police divisions.

These include the alleged murder of a person in the Keselwatte Police Division in 2015, aiding and abetting a murder in the Kotahena Police Division in 2018, and assaulting an individual with a sharp weapon in the Mattakkuliya Police Division in 2021.

The suspect has also been accused of having in his position a live hand grenade and narcotics in 2021 and involvement in robbery in the Keselwatte, Wellawatte and Bloemendhal Police Divisions.

Further investigations are being conducted under the supervision of the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of the Colombo Range.

by Norman Palihawadane