A Sri Lankan couple has been apprehended while attempting to illegally flee overseas via a cargo container on a Singapore-owned vessel, it was reported.
According to Lankadeepa, the couple had travelled 08-days in a cargo container on the vessel before being caught.
The couple has been identified as a 40-year-old man from Trincomalee, temporarily residing in Wattala, who had been involved in an extramarital affair with the 27-year-old female suspect from Palliyawatte in Wattala.
The man, who works as the driver of a container truck at the Colombo Port, had concealed and transported the woman into the port in his vehicle, after which he and the woman had managed to sneak into an empty cargo container of a Singapore-owned vessel anchored at the Colombo Port.
The couple had travelled inside the container for eight days after which the vessel had reached Malaysia, where the couple had attempted to leave the container and had been spotted by the Ship Captain.
Upon being questioned, the Ship Captain had attempted to hand over the couple to the Malaysian authorities, who had refused to take custody.
The couple were thereafter, taken on the ship to its final destination in China, and were handed over to the Chinese authorities.
The couple, who had attempted to illegally flee Sri Lanka to find a living overseas, have been repatriated to Sri Lanka by the Chinese authorities. (NewsWire/ Image- File Pic)
