Crime

Two Maldivians arrested in largest ecstasy bust in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan police seized nearly two thousand ecstasy pills worth more than US$6,320 after a tip-off while the Maldivian suspects were on their way to sell the pills to customers.

Published

6 years ago

May 17, 2018

Two Maldivians were arrested Wednesday night in the largest ecstasy bust in neighbouring Sri Lanka.

The suspects, aged 19 and 25, were arrested from apartments in the Kalubowila and Dehiwala districts of Colombo, according to Sri Lankan media reports.

The Sri Lankan police’s special task force seized nearly two thousand ecstasy pills with a street value of more than US$6,320 after a tip-off while the suspects were on their way to meet customers.

Police said the pills were imported from Holland through a courier service. The suspects were alleged to have been exporting to other countries as well.

The haul represented the largest quantity of pills seized by the special task force.

Thousands of Maldivians reside in Sri Lanka with many families relocating in recent years.

In July 2016, two Maldivians were arrested in Colombo with 385g of heroin. According to Sri Lankan media, the pair were “suspected to be major players in a drug racket operating between Pakistan and Maldives through Sri Lanka.”

Six Maldivians were also arrested in Sri Lanka in early 2016 on charges of drug trafficking. The two separate cases involved some 4kg of heroin.