22 Sri Lankan monks arrested with 110 kilograms of cannabis at airport

Sri Lankan customs officers arrested 22 monks at Bandaranaike International Airport with 110 kilograms of Kush, a potent plant-based strain of cannabis, hidden in luggage fitted with false walls or false bottoms. Officials said the men had returned from a four-day holiday in Bangkok, turning a routine arrival hall into the center of a major narcotics case.

The arrests came on Sunday, April 26, 2026, at Colombo’s main international airport, where authorities said the seizure was the largest drug bust in the facility’s history. One local outlet reported that the cannabis was worth more than 1.1 billion Sri Lankan rupees, underscoring the scale of the shipment and the value of the route that carried it into the country.

Customs officials said the operation followed intelligence supplied to the Police Narcotics Bureau, a sign that investigators were already tracking the movement before the group landed. Some reports said each monk was carrying about five kilograms of narcotics. The suspects were handed over to police and were expected to appear before a magistrate.

The case has drawn unusual attention because it involves Buddhist monks, a group that holds moral authority in Sri Lankan public life. Local reports said the men were young monks from different parts of the country and were pursuing higher education, adding another layer of concern over how such a network could form and move through airport security with such a large quantity of drugs.

The episode has also sharpened scrutiny of trafficking links between Thailand and Sri Lanka, especially as Kush and other cannabis products circulate in regional markets with varying legal and enforcement regimes. For Sri Lanka Customs and airport officials, the seizure raised immediate questions about luggage screening, passenger profiling, and how a shipment of this size moved through an international gateway without being stopped earlier.

Sri Lanka’s three main Buddhist orders later condemned the incident, distancing the country’s religious establishment from a case that has unsettled both law enforcement and the public. The arrest of 22 monks with 110 kilograms of cannabis now stands as more than a sensational airport bust: it is a test of border security, institutional trust, and the pressure trafficking networks are placing on Sri Lanka’s systems.