COLOMBO, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's custom officials on Thursday seized a large haul of cocaine estimated to be worth 13.8 million U.S. dollars.
The drug was being smuggled in a sugar container from Brazil.
Customs Spokesman Dharmasena Kahandawa told Xinhua that customs officials had seized 200 kilograms of cocaine which has been hidden in eight sugar bags in a shipping container.
An investigation has been launched to see if the cocaine had been smuggled for the local market or whether it was to be smuggled elsewhere.
"The shipping container was en route to Portugal. So the Police Narcotics Bureau has launched an investigation," Kahandawa said.
The seized cocaine has been handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau for further investigation.
Customs officials have beefed up their examinations on sugar containers arriving from Brazil after a large haul of cocaine was seized in June.
The haul weighed more than 90 kilograms and was stealthily concealed in several travelling bags inside a container of sugar.
The container had arrived from Brazil.
Sri Lankan authorities are trying to probe if Colombo is being used as a transit center to smuggle drugs.
