Navy recovers smuggled medicine and Kendu leaves in Kalpitiya and Chilaw

The Sri Lanka Navy seized a large consignment of smuggled medicine and Kendu leaves during separate search operations conducted in Kalpitiya and Chilaw on 10 July 2026.

In the first of two operations, naval personnel from SLNS Vijaya in the Northwestern Naval Command searched a beachfront shrub area in Kirimundalama, Kalpitiya, uncovering a suspicious package containing 71,960 medicinal capsules believed to have been smuggled into the country.

In a separate operation on the same day, naval personnel from SLNS Thambapanni, acting on information, searched a coastal thicket in Karukapane, Chilaw, recovering 10 suspicious packages containing approximately 401kg of Kendu leaves.

Meanwhile, the medicinal drugs and Kendu leaves recovered in these operations were handed over to the Kalpitiya Police and Chilaw Office of Excise Department respectively, for legal proceedings.