Colombo, March 29 (newsin.asia) – A Sri Lankan magistrate’s court, on Friday further remanded 9 Iranian nationals who were arrested earlier this week attempting to smuggle in 100 kilograms of heroin through the sea.
The Police Narcotics Bureau informed court, that investigations into the drug bust was continuing and they had received details that the suspects had loaded the drugs into the trawler, off the Pakistan coastline.
The suspects were further remanded till April 5.
The Iranian nationals were arrested last Sunday in the seas, off the southern coast, following a joint raid conducted by the navy, Special Task Force and the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB).
Immediate investigations had revealed that as the officers approached the suspects’ trawler, they had thrown 50 kilograms of the heroin into the sea.
Sri Lankan investigators, on the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena, have since January launched a severe crackdown on drug dealers and smugglers, with several arrests being made within the past two months.
Last month, Sirisena said he would impose the death penalty on convicted drug traffickers within the following two months after he vowed to free the country from the drug menace by 2020.
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