A 53-year-old prison guard has been arrested after police uncovered an alleged operation to deliver drugs to an inmate at Magazine Prison, with 100 grams of ice and 20 grams of heroin seized during the investigation.
The Mount Lavinia Divisional Crime Investigation Bureau launched the investigation after arresting a 32-year-old man in the Mount Lavinia area with the drugs, estimated to be worth nearly Rs. 2 million.
Police said the man disclosed during questioning that an inmate at Magazine Prison had contacted him through WhatsApp and directed him to a location to collect the drug package.
Investigators subsequently learned that the package was to be handed over to another person on Wanatha Road in Borella. Police officers arranged an operation at the location, where a man wearing a prison sports uniform allegedly approached the suspect to collect the package.
The man was arrested by officers who had been monitoring the operation and was identified as a prison guard attached to Magazine Prison.
Police said the prison guard, a resident of Beliatta in Tangalle, is 53 years old. He joined the Magazine Prison staff in January after previously serving at Welikada Prison.
The first suspect, a 32-year-old resident of Waidya, Dehiwala, was also taken into custody.
Further investigations are being conducted by the Mount Lavinia Divisional Crime Investigation Bureau. (Newswire)