COLOMBO: Sri Lankan authorities on Monday destroyed nearly 770 kgs of cocaine in a bid to prevent the smugglers from using the island nation as a transit point for drug distribution in the region.
The drugs were burnt in Sri Lanka's Puttalam town on the instructions of President Maithripala Sirisena, who also witnessed the destruction of the psychotropic substance.
Sirisena launched a campaign last year against drugs after he visited the Philippines and praised the country's anti-drugs drive.
On January 15 2018, Sri Lanka publicly destroyed over 928 kilograms of cocaine seized in December, 2016 aboard a container ship sailing from Ecuador to Munrah Harbor in India when it arrived at Colombo harbour, the Colombo page reported.
Further steps have been taken to increase narcotics raids on the instructions of the president to accelerate the programme implemented to eradicate illegal drugs from the country, the report said.