Nine Iranians sentenced to life imprisonment

By T. Farook Thajudeen

Colombo High Court yesterday imposed life imprisonment to nine Iranians after a lengthy trial on charges of trafficking heroin.  

Colombo High Court Judge Amal Ranaraja imposed life imprisonment to the nine Iranians after observing that the nine Iranians were found guilty for trafficking heroin within the territory of Sri Lankan High Seas at Akurala.  

The nine convicts were arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy in the Akurala High seas on February 24 in 2019, and subsequent to their arrest with the contraband they were handed over to the Police for further investigation.  

The sailors recovered around 100 kg of heroin in the multi-day trawler in which the Iranians sailed.  

The stock of heroin was sent to the Government Analyst for examination and report on the contents of the contraband.  
The analyst’s report had confirmed that the amount of heroin content in the packages was around 84 grams.  

Judge Ranaraja sentenced the accused to life imprisonment on the observation that the prosecution case was proved beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution.