Arms Trafficking
The Attorney General’s Department yesterday filed indictment in the Avant-Garde High Seas Arms Trafficking case before a Trial-At-Bar against 13 persons including Avant-Garde Maritime Services Ltd. (AGMS) Chairman Nissanka Senadhipathi.
A total of 7,573 charges were filed by the AG under the Fire Arms Ordinance as well as the Penal Code for illegally operating a merchant vessel ship and carrying 813 unlicensed automatic weapons and 200,935 rounds of live ammunitions on board the Ship MV Avant-Garde in and around October 2015.
The Trial-at-Bar consists of High Court Judges Dhammika Ganepola (President), Adithya Patabandige and Manjula Thilakarathna.
The case is connected to a joint venture which AGMS entered with the Government-Owned Business Undertaking (GOBU) of Rank Rakshasa Lanka Ltd. to provide infrastructure facilities for international maritime security services.
