Sri Lankan court sentences 10 Iranians to life for smuggling 111kg of heroin

A Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment on Wednesday after they pleaded guilty to smuggling over 111 kilograms (244 pounds) of heroin, police said.

The men were among 17 arrested in Sri Lankan waters in April 2016 while transporting narcotics aboard an Iranian trawler, according to police.

The High Court of Negombo has scheduled a further hearing regarding the other seven suspects for next month, police said in a statement.

The seven include three Sri Lankans, two Pakistanis, an Indian and a Singaporean, the statement added.

Wednesday's sentencing marks the largest group of foreigners to be imprisoned for drug smuggling in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan authorities have said that seizures of large quantities of heroin off its shores suggest that Colombo is being used as a transit hub for narcotics to be reshipped to the Far East.

Last year, nine Iranians received life sentences in a separate drug smuggling case.