An ingenious attempt to smuggle in a stock of heroin hidden in oranges was thwarted by the Customs official at the Bandaranaike International Airport last night.
The contraband weighing at 984grams was worth around Rs.8million. The contraband was recovered from the possession of a Pakistani national who has come from Karachchi.
The Customs recovered 72 oranges of which 12 contained heroin. The inside of the oranges have carefully been removed and each replaced with 80grams of narcotics, Customs Spokesman Director Leslie Gamini said.
The suspect and the contraband have been handed over to Police Narcotic Bureau for further investigations following the Customs inquiry conducted by DDC Athula Lankadeva.