COLOMBO, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan police said on Tuesday that a large haul of drugs seized from Moratuwa in capital Colombo Monday had been smuggled into the island country from Afghanistan and Pakistan in January.
According to the police, initial investigations had revealed that a large group was behind the smuggling racket and the Police Narcotics Bureau was conducting investigations to arrest all those involved.
Following a raid, the police on Monday evening seized heroin weighing over 170 kilograms along with 2,700 rounds of ammunition from a private residence in Moratuwa.
The heroin is valued at an estimated 10 million U.S. dollars.
A police official said this recovery was one of the largest nabbed in the country following the large haul of heroin of 294 kilograms and 490 grams nabbed in February.
Police said security had been beefed up around the area since Monday night.
Sri Lankan investigators, on the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena, have since January launched a severe crackdown on drug dealers and smugglers, with several arrests being made within the past two months.
Last month, Sirisena said he would impose the death penalty on convicted drug traffickers within the following two months after he vowed to free the country from the drug menace by 2020.
