Mahinda Kahandagama, a former Colombo Municipal Council member of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna, has been arrested in Mirihana in connection with crystal methamphetamine, police say.
A second person was arrested with him. Both were detained by the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau, Newswire reported, which said a quantity of suspected crystal methamphetamine — known locally as “Ice” — was recovered from Kahandagama, and a further quantity from the second suspect.
NewsFirst reported that the two were taken in a raid, and that the operation followed an extended investigation based on information received by the Director of the Colombo Central Crime Investigation Bureau.
Police said preliminary inquiries indicated the suspect had been involved in drug trafficking for some time.
The two accounts differ on when, and on what he is held for
The outlets do not agree on the timing. NewsFirst, filing at 6:49 a.m. today, said the raid was carried out “early this morning” — that is, on 6 October. Newswire placed the arrest near a restaurant in Mirihana on Monday night, 5 October. No filing reconciles the two.
They also frame the allegation differently. NewsFirst reported the arrest as being on charges of drug trafficking; Newswire described it as an arrest over alleged possession, with trafficking raised only as what preliminary investigations are said to indicate. Possession and trafficking are distinct offences, and no charge sheet has been reported.
Not reported
It is not reported how much methamphetamine was recovered, what its street value is, whether either suspect has been produced before a magistrate, or the identity of the second person arrested. Ada Derana also filed on the arrest, but its site has been returning a CloudFront block for 12 days and the report could not be retrieved.
