Navy probes major human smuggling racket

by Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Sri Lanka Navy intelligence operatives along with the police are conducting further investigations to bust a major human smuggling racket after they found that the five men arrested in the Marawila area in mid-August were involved in a part of a major racket which had been going on for many years.

Navy Spokesman Captain Athula Senerath told the Sunday Observer that of the five men arrested in the Marawila area in mid August one of them had been involved with the human smuggling racket.

The Navy arrested five suspects at a restaurant in Marawila awaiting to board a fishing trawler to reach Australia illegally.

“It has been found that they charged over Rs. 1.2 million from each person to smuggle them to Australia and other countries”, he said. Captain Senerath said the smuggling racket has no connection with illegal immigrants seeking refuge in Western countries after boarding vessels run by former Tiger cadres. “We are conducting further investigations as we found that this human smuggling racket had been going on via Negombo, with agents operating in the South, East and also in the Kurunegala area”, Captain Senerath said.

They keep people in hotels after an advance of Rs. 600,000 is paid to their agents, until their fishing trawlers are ready for the voyage. “The Navy personnel on the shore bust these rackets after they receive information about the people staying in hotels”, Captain Senerath said.

He said apart from the routine surveillance in the sea, the Navy is also conducting operations on the shore in search of people and vessels awaiting to embark on the illegal voyage.

Captain Senerath said the Navy’s role to bust such human smuggling rackets was commended by officials of the Australian government recently.