Navy nabs 02 suspects in Kalpitiya bird smuggling bust

During a search operation conducted in the lagoon vicinity of Kimbulbokka in Kalpitiya on 07 Oct 25, the Sri Lanka Navy thwarted a smuggling racket involving 150 pet birds and apprehended 02 suspects and a dinghy employed for this illegal act.

After detecting a suspicious dinghy, the Naval Detachment of Uchchamunai under SLNS Vijaya in the Northwestern Naval Command launched this search operation in the Kimbulbokka Lagoon. During the operation, naval personnel seized the suspicious dinghy with 150 pigeons and apprehended the 02 suspects in connection to the act of smuggling.

The suspects held in this operation were identified as residents of Kalpitiya, aged 27 and 39. The suspects together with birds and the dinghy were handed over to the Department of Forest Conservation, Karuwalagaswewa for onward legal action.