Sri Lankan Customs officers have seized narcotics with an estimated street value of 60.265 million rupees ($60.2 million in Sri Lankan rupees, not US dollars) from nine international mail parcels at the Central Mail Exchange in Colombo, authorities said on Wednesday.
The drugs, which included 4.934kg of kush cannabis, 1.035kg of hashish, 25g of ecstasy tablets and 4g of cocaine, were discovered during a joint operation involving the Customs Narcotics Control Unit, customs officers attached to the Central Mail Exchange and the Police Narcotics Bureau.
The nine parcels had been sent from Thailand, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Three originated in Thailand, two in Spain, two in the United Kingdom and two in the United States, according to the findings of the inspection.
The largest portion of the seizure consisted of kush cannabis, with 4,934g recovered and an estimated street value of 49.34 million rupees. Officers also found 1,035g of hashish valued at 10.35 million rupees, 25g of ecstasy tablets worth 375,000 rupees and 4g of cocaine valued at 200,000 rupees. The combined estimated street value of the seized substances was 60.265 million rupees.
Customs officials had identified the parcels as suspicious while screening incoming international mail over the preceding several months. Rather than opening them immediately, officers retained the packages until their designated recipients could collect them.
The recipients did not come forward within the period allowed for collection. Customs officials consequently arranged for the parcels to be opened and examined in the presence of officers from the Police Narcotics Bureau.
The detailed inspections were subsequently carried out at the Central Mail Exchange by officers from the Customs Narcotics Control Unit, customs officials assigned to the postal facility and the Police Narcotics Bureau. The examination established the number of parcels received from each of the four countries and led to the recovery of the four categories of narcotics.
Following the completion of preliminary investigations at the Central Mail Exchange, Sri Lanka Customs handed over the seized drugs to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further investigations and legal proceedings.
The authorities have not identified the intended recipients of the parcels in the information released about the operation.
