Sri Lankan police under pressure to stem drug smuggling

Colombo, Apr 23 (Xinhua-ANI): Sri Lankan police are searching for a British national suspected of smuggling hashish into the country as authorities come under pressure to stem increasing drug trade, a spokesman said here on Monday.

Following the end of a three decade war, Sri Lanka is experiencing a massive tourism boom. However, the downside of this is that the country has become a magnet for drug smuggling, with Thai, Philippine and Pakistani nationals being arrested over the last few months.

In the latest incident, according to police 365 grams of hashish was smuggled in three bundles of magazines by two foreigners, one of whom was arrested by the police.

"We are continuing investigations and hope to arrest the British national soon," police spokesman Ajith Rohana told Xinhua.

According to Police Narcotics Bureau statistics, 23 kilos of heroin, 10 kilos of cocaine, 18 kilos of hashish and 50,000 kilos of cannabis was taken into custody in 2011.

Last week officials arrested two Thai women that had swallowed 160 small capsules containing 1,489 grams of cocaine. Most of the drugs are believed to be sold to tourists, causing more concern for law enforcement authorities. (Xinhua-ANI)