Kerala ganja smuggling attempt thwarted near maritime boundary

Pandemic has not dampened cannabis smuggling across Palk Strait

…over 100 kg of contraband found in separate operations

Kerala cannabis continued to be smuggled into Sri Lanka despite naval operations in the country’s territorial waters to prevent illegal operations, authoritative sources told The Island yesterday (2).

Mid-sea transfers were taking place on both sides of the Indo-Lanka maritime boundary, a senior defence official said.

The latest narcotics detection was made by the SLN close to the maritime boundary on 01 June. The SLN intercepted a dinghy carrying 29 kilos and 800 g of Kerala cannabis. “We took the dinghy along with stock of contraband and two suspects into custody,” an SLN spokesperson said. The offer estimated the street value of the recovered stock at Rs 8 mn.

Responding to another query, the official said that such operations were conducted in terms of Covid-19 protocols in place to prevent the transmission of the raging pandemic.

The suspects have been identified as residents of Irukkalampiddi, Mannar. They along with Kerala cannabis and the dinghy were handed over to the Talaimannar Police for legal action.

Meanwhile, a joint SLA-SLN foot patrol on the night of May 30 recovered 48 kilos and 900 g of Kerala cannabis hidden in a dinghy in the Kottadi beach area, in the Muniya fishing village, Point Pedro.

The consignment of cannabis had been concealed in polythene sacks, sources said, adding that the Navy had also seized two motorcycles believed to have been used by those who brought the contraband to the location.

The SLN estimated the street value of the Kottadi recovery at Rs 14 mn.

The SLN said that the contraband and the motorcycles had been handed over to the Point Pedro police for further investigations.

The SLN said that a subsequent search operation carried out in the same area on the following day had yielded a stock of Kerala cannabis weighing around 31kg and 835g .

The Navy recovered the contraband packed in two polythene sacks left behind a closed building.

The SLN believes that due to the detection made the previous day, the smugglers may have left behind this stock of Kerala cannabis on this location to fetch it later.

The street value of this stock of Kerala cannabis is believed to be over Rs. 9 million (SF)