27-year-old Canadian held with 20.1 kg hashish at BIA
Sri Lanka Customs arrested a 27-year-old Canadian painter at Bandaranaike International Airport on 26 July 2026 with 20.117 kg of hashish in 80 slabs. Officials valued the haul brought from Toronto via Doha at Rs. 201.89 million and were to hand him to the Police Narcotics Bureau.
🇱🇰 Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake · Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Customs officers arrested a Canadian national at Bandaranaike
International Airport on 26 July 2026 while he was attempting to smuggle hashish
into the country.[1]The arrested suspect is a 27-year-old Canadian national.[2]The 27-year-old works as a painter and had bought the drugs in Toronto
before travelling via Doha to Sri Lanka on Qatar Airways flight QR-662, arriving
at around 2:30 a.m.[1]
Officers of the Customs Narcotics Control Unit found 20 kilograms and 117 grams
of brown-coloured hashish in 80 slabs inside his two pieces of luggage.[1]Officials estimated the seized hashish was worth Rs. 201.89 million.[1]
Investigators said he had bought the narcotics in Toronto and travelled via Doha
on a connecting Qatar Airways flight to Sri Lanka.[3]He arrived at Katunayake
airport at around 2:30 a.m. on 26 July aboard flight QR-662.[2]The suspect
and the seized drugs were to be handed to Police Narcotics Bureau officers at
Katunayake Airport for further investigation.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Daily Mirrordailymirror.lkCanadian national arrested at Katunayake Airport with hashish worth over Rs. 200 Mn
Daily FTft.lkCanadian arrested at BIA with hashish worth over Rs. 200 m
Open questions the AI reported
The suspect was not named; only his age, Canadian nationality and work as a painter were published.
No charge, court production or later outcome was reported; the accounts say he was to be handed to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further investigation.
The 26 July 2026 incident date is taken from reports published that day saying the arrest happened earlier today (26).
All opened accounts relay the Customs version; no statement from the suspect or defence was published.
Galle District Crime Division officers arrested a 41-year-old Unawatuna resident in a local raid and recovered over 125 grams of Kush alongside crystal methamphetamine. Police said further investigations into the possession case were underway.
A man detained while taking part in the sit-in against the Anuradhapura Sacred City Development Plan, on a charge of obstructing police duties, has been found to have used both heroin and cannabis. Two civilians were arrested over the confrontation between police and Buddhist monks near the Ruwanweli Maha Seya stupa.
Airport Police Narcotics Bureau officers arrested a 37-year-old Indian businessman at Bandaranaike International Airport early on 7 November 2026 as he allegedly tried to smuggle kush and hashish out of Sri Lanka. They found 2.102 kg of kush in tins labelled as tamarind toffees and 5.26 kg of hashish shaped like toffees, which police valued at about Rs 231.42 million.
Police in Madiwela, Kotte, arrested a 25-year-old local resident in a night raid on 6 November 2026 and seized 558 grams of Kush, a cannabis product, along with heroin and crystal methamphetamine. The Western Province North Crime Division, which ran the raid on received information, said investigations were continuing.
