The Sri Lankan Navy has apprehended a trawler, allegedly involved in drug trafficking, in the high seas off Male, and brought it back to Colombo. Seven persons, all Pakistan nationals, were taken into custody, and 336 kg heroin was seized in the operation earlier this week.
The trawler, reportedly acting as a multi-day fishing trawler, was transporting drug consignments to other boats, and investigations are still in progress. No weapons were recovered so far. The stock of heroin weighing 336 kg with a street value of around Rs 3.1 billion was detected by the Sri Lanka Navy was found in this operation.
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A seven-member crew was found to be Pakistan nationals with a multi-day fishing vessel used to transport the heroin from a foreign port.
The operation was the culmination of a stringent three weeks of surveillance and information sharing between the Navy and intelligence agencies.
The Sri Lankan navy was recently involved in an incident with Indian fishing boats. The fisheries department alleged that Sri Lankan navy personnel pelted stones on Indian boats causing damage to about 60 of them and also damaged fishing nets in around 25 boats, news agency PTI had reported. The boats involved in the incident were fishing near Katchatheevu on August 21.
In a similar incident, the Lankan navy had chased away fishermen from the Palk Strait on July 4 and damaged their fishing equipment. Lankan navy personnel allegedly chased away the Indian fishermen at gunpoint on t and “cut the nets up each costing about one lakh rupees,” fishermen association chief Sesu Raj told news agency PTI, adding that such instances have been on the rise and that Central government should intervene.
