Suspected large-scale drug trafficker Shiran Basik was flown back to Sri Lanka on Friday night, more than two months after his arrest in Dubai, along with two other men described as underworld figures.
The three arrived at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake aboard Air Arabia flight 3L-708 from Abu Dhabi at about 8.48pm, in the custody of Sri Lankan law enforcement officers, Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror reported.
Basik, 48, a resident of Kalubowila in Dehiwala, is the subject of an Interpol Red Notice. The Daily Mirror described him as one of Sri Lanka’s major large-scale narcotics suppliers. He went to the United Arab Emirates in 2018 and had been living there while presenting himself as a wealthy businessman.
Arrested over material found on his phone
Dubai Police arrested Basik on May 26 after reportedly finding photographs and video footage on his mobile phone showing drones and missiles used in Iranian attacks on the UAE, according to the Daily Mirror and Hiru News. The United States was also reported to have asked that he be handed over for further investigation.
That date matches Sri Lankan police accounts at the time. When the arrest was first reported in late May, authorities in Colombo said they had received no official confirmation from the UAE, and Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said on June 1 that only unofficial intelligence had reached the country. Ada Derana’s report on Friday described the arrest only as recent; the Daily Mirror and Hiru both pinned it to May 26.
Questioned on arrival
Criminal Investigation Department officers recorded statements from the suspects at the airport. They were expected to be taken to the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau under tight security for further questioning.
Hiru News had reported earlier on Friday that Basik was due to be returned during the day.
The repatriation follows a run of similar operations. Police said this week that 93 suspects wanted under Interpol Red Notices are being pursued, and several organised-crime suspects were returned from Malaysia earlier this month. Dubai has been a recurring focus: 21 suspects subject to Red Notices were deported from there in May, and an alleged trafficker known as “Alto Dharme” was detained in the emirate on the same day as Basik.
Neither the two other returned suspects nor the charges they face have been named.
Update: handed to CCIB under a 72-hour detention order
Basik was handed over to the Central Crime Investigation Bureau in Colombo on Saturday for further investigation, Ada Derana reported. The two other men suspected of belonging to an organised criminal gang were handed over with him for questioning.
Police then obtained a 72-hour detention order against Basik, according to the Daily Mirror, a figure Hiru News also gives as 72 hours. NewsFirst reported the period as 72 days; the Daily Mirror and Hiru accounts agree with each other and are followed here.
The Daily Mirror set out the spread of allegations against him. Drug trafficking is being investigated by the Police Narcotics Bureau together with the Dehiwala and Mirihana police stations; firearms offences by the Kalutara and Dehiwala stations; possession of dangerous weapons by Piliyandala Police; and an allegation of unlawful assembly causing harm by the Colombo Crimes Division.
Ada Derana said investigators will also examine illegal assets allegedly acquired through drug trafficking and other organised criminal activity, and reported that Basik travelled to the United Arab Emirates in 2018. NewsFirst reported that police are investigating whether he had any involvement in the recent prison clashes, and said information has emerged linking him to the 2012 Welikada Prison riot.
