Sri Lanka police arrest 113 asylum seekers trying to migrate to Australia

Sri Lanka Police say its Colombo Fraud Bureau has arrested 113 persons who were attempting to illegally sail to Australia in a fishing trawler.
The Police Spokesman Superintendent of Police said the asylum seekers and six human traffickers, who were carrying out the operation, were arrested in groups near the Galle Face in Colombo and the coastal town of Negombo, about 20 miles north of Colombo this morning. The arrests were made following a special raid conducted by the Colombo Fraud Bureau today, the spokesman said. The police have also seized a lorry and seven vans used for the human smuggling operation. Local media reports said that each asylum seeker has paid Rs. 200,000 to the agents of the human smuggling ring and the leader of the ring has collected 31 million rupees in total. The asylum seekers are reportedly residents of northwestern coastal towns of Negombo and Chilaw.