The Sri Lankan men, all Buddhist monks, arrived on Saturday at Bandaranaike International Airport with school supplies and candy. But hidden within that cargo was nearly 247 pounds, of cannabis products, according to the local authorities, who called it one of the largest drug seizures ever at the airport.
The authorities arrested the 22 monks, who were returning from Thailand, on charges of possession of cannabis, which is illegal for recreational use in Sri Lanka, an island nation southeast of India. The drugs were discovered in the bottoms of their suitcases, and had been “packaged very cleverly,” according to a police spokesman.
Each person’s suitcase contained about 11 pounds of illegal drugs, the police spokesman said. The contraband included kush, a strain of cannabis, and hashish, a cannabis concentrate. Daily News, a state-owned newspaper, reported that the stash was worth about $3.45 million.
The monks, many of them young men in their 20s, left Sri Lanka for a short trip to Thailand on April 22, according the police. Their flights and accommodation had been paid for; the police said an unnamed businessman had sponsored the trip with the intention of trafficking narcotics.
Another monk, who had been waiting to pick the group up at the airport, fled when he learned of the arrests, according go the spokesman. He was arrested on Tuesday in a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city.
The monks, who were not identified by the authorities, appeared before a court on Sunday in Negombo, a town close to the airport. Police also accused three of the monks of smuggling drugs from Thailand to Colombo in March.
The recreational use of cannabis is strictly banned in Sri Lanka. Convictions for drug trafficking there can be punished with fines, long prison sentences or even the death penalty.
The Sri Lankan authorities have announced other drug arrests recently. A British woman, Charlotte May Lee, was detained there last year after the authorities said that they had recovered more than 100 pounds of cannabis products in her suitcases. (Ms. Lee, who had arrived in Sri Lanka from Thailand, said the drugs were planted in her suitcase, the BBC and other outlets reported.)
Isabella Kwai is a Times reporter based in London, covering breaking news and other trends.
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