British national detained

By Lakmal Sooriyagoda

A British national who had allegedly gone to the Colombo Central Mail Exchange in order to collect three parcels that had hashish concealed inside them which were addressed to a leading film actress, was ordered to be detained till April 24 under Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) by a Colombo Court yesterday.

The suspect was ordered to be detained by the Colombo Fort Magistrate Kanishka Wijeratne, submitting a written request made by the PNB Director SP Nanayakkara, the PNB moved Court that an order be issued to detain the suspect for further questioning.

Furthermore, the PNB moved Court that the arrested suspect be detained since they were conducting further investigations into the foreigner who fled the scene and on the film actress, a resident of Colombo 3.

The suspect had been charged under the provisions of the Poisons, Opium and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act No.13 of 1984.  Filing a B report in Court, the (PNB) told Court that the Colombo Central Mail Exchange had received three suspicious parcels sent by post from India on April 18. The postal authorities had conveyed this message to the persons who were residing in the Colombo 3 residence and asked them to come and collect the parcels. Thereafter, the postal officers had taken the custom officials assistance when opening the three suspicious parcels before two foreign nationals who came to collect them.

At that time, the custom officer had detected 366 grams and 70 milligrams of hashish in three parcels of magazines. The concerned substance had been hidden between the pages of magazines. The PNB alleged that the two foreigners ran away with three parcels, when the custom officials attempted to inquire about the suspicious substance. However, the postal officials had managed to take arrest of one foreigner who took away the three parcels.

The other British national who had accompanied the arrested suspect had fled the scene. Further magisterial inquiry into the matter fixed for 24 April.