A 66‑year‑old woman from Mannar has been arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for allegedly aiding and abetting the disposal of gold jewellery acquired through narcotics trafficking.
Police said the suspect, the mother of the wife of a man accused of smuggling drugs from South India between 2019 and 2023, was taken into custody on Sunday (15).
According to the Police, a person who trafficked narcotics from South India to Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2023 is alleged to have earned money and acquired a two‑storey house, a house with five shops, a motor vehicle, and nearly 360 sovereigns of gold jewellery. It is further alleged that the gold items were pawned and later sold. Based on this complaint, the Police Illegal Assets Investigation Division began an inquiry.
After the suspect was taken into custody, cases were filed in the Mannar High Court regarding the above two houses and the motor vehicle, and orders were obtained to make them inactive. Those orders have been confirmed and extended.
During the extended investigation into the gold items, it was revealed that the suspect’s wife’s mother had pawned the gold at several financial institutions and later sold it to several jewellery shops in the Mannar area.
Accordingly, knowing that the gold items were acquired through illegal activities, pawning and selling them amounts to offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
In connection with aiding and abetting these offences, the suspect’s wife’s mother was arrested in Mannar last evening.
The suspect is a 66‑year‑old resident of Mannar. Further investigations are being conducted by the Police Illegal Assets Investigation Division. (Newswire)
