SL Customs seize largest ever haul of Ecstasy pills in South Asia

• 18,000 pills with a street value of over Rs.135Mn
• Sent from Belgium packed as cat food
• Largest Methamphetamine detection thus far by any Sri Lankan law enforcement agency

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana 

Sri Lanka Customs Narcotic Control Unit yesterday seized, what turned out to be the largest haul of Ecstasy pills in the entire South Asian region thus far, which included 18,000 tablets worth over Rs.135 million from a personal package sent from Belgium. 

Customs Narcotic Control Unit officials detected a suspicious parcel sent from Belgium addressed to a recipient in Colombo 05 at the Central Mail Exchange (CME) a few weeks back. 
Additional Director General of Customs cum its Spokesman Sunil Jayaratne said the contraband had been sent concealed as cat food in a package of personal effects addressed to local resident, who had not shown up to claim the goods for weeks. 
Since the addressee has not shown up, the Customs officials had inquired about the address stated on the consignment to be false and had decided to open the package once it was transferred to Customs Headquarters in Fort. 
An investigating officer of the Customs Narcotic Control Unit told the Daily Mirror the MDMA tablets were carefully concealed in three imported cat food packets in their original packing. 

The three packets of Ecstasy alone weighed about nine kilos and after a strenuous period of counting the tablets, the officials managed to find about 18,000 pills of various colours and shapes in them. 

The sleuths also found some chocolates and other edible items packed in the main parcel along with the three packets of cat food. 

Preliminary investigations revealed that this detection was not only the largest Ecstasy haul by any Sri Lankan law enforcement agency but in the entire South Asian region so far. 

This single detection of Methamphetamine alone with a street value of Rs.135 million is staggering compared to the value of entire narcotic drugs seized by the SL Customs in 2019, which is Rs.141 million and in 2020 stands at Rs.251 million. 

The popular party drug also known as MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a psychoactive drug primarily used for recreational purposes. A tablet of Ecstasy has a street value of Rs.7,000 at present. 
The detection was led by Customs Narcotic Control Unit Superintendents H. D. G. Sumathipala and H. Guruge with Deputy Superintendents B. D. S. A. Wijewardana, A. K. R. Samanjith, D. N. C. Abeynayake and Assistant Superintendents D. M. T. C. B. Dissanayake, K. H. D. D. Weligampitiya, T. M. G. S. B. Cooray, W. U. M. Perera, K. C. A. Dilrukshi, H. D. G. S. Dayananda, S. A. D. N. Sirimanna, U. C. Ranasinghe, R. D. Gunathilaka, M. P. D. Lanka, W. A. P. M. Wanasundara, S. B. R. H. Kumara with Inspectors J. A. I. D. Jayakody and S. Kajenthini with Guards D. M. G. P. Malinda and H. N. Madusanka on the instructions of Director General of Customs Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Vijitha Ravipriya, Director B. A. S. P. I. Balasooriya and Deputy Director T. G. Ajith Duminda. 
The seized stock of Ecstasy will be handed over to the Police Narcotic Bureau for further investigations.