Every particular person was allegedly carrying about 5 kilos of the drug hidden inside false compartments of their suitcases, stated a customs official.
Sri Lankan monks arrive at courtroom after their arrest (Picture: GETTY)
Shock erupted as 22 Sri Lankan monks have been arrested on the nation’s major worldwide airport after coming back from a vacation in Thailand, with officers seizing 242 kilos of highly effective hashish from their baggage, in line with customs officers. Sri Lanka Customs officers famous the group had flown house after a four-day journey to Bangkok once they have been stopped on arrival.
A customs official defined: “The monks have been discovered to have Kush — a potent, plant-based pressure of hashish — hid of their baggage. Every particular person was allegedly carrying about 5 kilos of the drug hidden inside false compartments of their suitcases.”
We use your sign-up to offer content material in methods you’ve got consented to and to enhance our understanding of you. This may increasingly embody adverts from us and third events based mostly on our understanding. You may unsubscribe at any time. Learn our Privateness Coverage
The monks have been then handed over to police and have been to be produced earlier than a Justice of the Peace in a while Sunday.
Officers stated the group have been largely younger college students from temples throughout Sri Lanka and had been on a vacation reportedly sponsored by a businessman.
A customs official added: “The seizure was the most important single detection of Kush on the nation’s major worldwide airport.”
The case comes amid a collection of main drug interceptions on the similar airport lately, reported CBS.
In Might, a British girl was arrested with 101 kilos of the drug on the similar airport after travelling from Bangkok to Colombo, later claiming she was unaware of the medicine and that they could have been planted at her lodge.
In June 2025, authorities seized what was described as the most important haul of cocaine ever detected on the airport from a 38-year-old Thai girl carrying about 22 kilos of cocaine hidden in plush toys.
Sri Lankan authorities have additionally intercepted giant portions of heroin and different narcotics smuggled by way of fishing boats lately. The most recent arrests aren’t the primary involving monks in drug-related circumstances.
In 2022, monks at a temple in central Thailand have been defrocked after testing optimistic for methamphetamine and despatched for rehabilitation.
In 2017, a Buddhist monk was arrested in Myanmar after authorities discovered greater than 4 million methamphetamine tablets in his car and monastery.
Leave a Reply