Colombo, Aug 01: Sri Lankan Police today said they have arrested the mastermind behind an alien smuggling ring that involved Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans. "It is a major breakthrough and we hope the arrest will lead us to low-level operatives," said D S Y Samaratunga, a senior police investigator.

Jayaruwan Nanayappa Hewage Munasinghe, a Sri Lankan, used his ship for smuggling and charged 300,000 rupees for each would-be migrants.

Sri Lankan authorities last month arrested more than 650 people, mostly from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, on suspicion they were heading for Europe as illegal migrants. Police arrested an additional 11 Indians and 10 Pakistanis in Matugama, 55 kilometers south of the capital, Colombo yesterday.

Investigators have said human traffickers are using Sri Lanka as a transit point for sending illegal migrants to Europe by sea.

Sri Lanka last year relaxed entry regulations for visitors from neighbouring countries in South Asia, offering them visas on arrival.

Bureau Report