Nine Iranians who were charged with the possession and trafficking of narcotics via a boat in the seas off Sri Lanka 04 years ago have been sentenced to life in prison, it was reported.
In 2019, the suspects were arrested with over 100 kg of heroin worth over Rs.1 billion in their trawler, while it was reported at the time that another stock of some 500 kg of heroin had been dumped at sea.
Colombo High Court Judge Amal Ranaraja sentenced to life the suspects after they had pleaded guilty to the offence, before the commencement of the evidentiary hearing on the case today.
The High Court Judge also ordered that the defendants be extradited to Iran to serve one prison sentence according to the international agreement that Sri Lanka has signed.
The sentencing was issued after the lawyers representing the defendants stated that all the defendants had pleaded guilty to the charge. (NewsWire)