International cocaine smugglers are using Sri Lanka as a transit hub to transport cocaine across Asia say authorities, Reuters reported.

Narcotics officers have recently made seizures of cocaine smuggled in containers of sugar from Brazil. Around $140 million worth of cocaine was found mainly in the Brazilian sugar containers.

Produce is usually transferred into smaller boats at sea and then brought ashore. 

This is apparently despite the Sri Lankan navy's formidable presence along the island's coastline. 

Customs spokesman Sunil Jayaratne said “after reaching here, they go out in small boats, they use fishing boats.”

Sri Lankan authorities released 76 Indian fishermen on the day that the Indian external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj arrived on the island to participated in the Indian Ocean Conference. 

The men were arrested and detained, with their fishing boats confiscated in separate incidents over recent months. 

Meanwhile, in a separate incidents today, a total of 8 fishermen were detained by the Sri Lankan navy and taken to the Kankesanthurai navy camp for interrogation. 

A Sri Lankan court on Thursday granted bail for a Brigadier arrested over the military's shooting of protesters in the island's south in 2013, reports Ada Derana. 

Brigadier Anura Deshapriya Gunawaredena was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for allegedly ordering soldiers to fire at the crowd who were protested for clean water. 

Three other military members were also arrested. Three protesters were killed during the incident. 

The Sri Lankan government is due to open an embassy in Erbil announced the head of the Kurdistan Region's Department of Foreign Relations (DFR) this week.

Falah Mustafa said that his government had approved requests from Sri Lanka, as well as Ukraine, to open honorary consulates in the Kurdistan region.

“The DFR warmly welcomes the decision made by Ukraine and Sri Lanka to open offices in the Kurdistan Region. It is another step toward strengthening relations with both countries in terms of economy, trade, and culture,” said Mr Mustafa.

Police in Sri Lankan have launched an official investigation following a complaint that women taking part in a procession in the South were dressed in sarees “similar to the Buddhist flag”.

The Island reports that a group of women at the Hikkaduwa Seenigama Devale had been dressed in the sarees, reportedly leading to “protests from some lay persons”.

Following a complaint from Buddhist monk Angulugalle Siri Jinanda of the Buddhist Information Centre, Sri Lankan police have launched an official investigation.

The Acting Assistant Secretary of State of the US Alice Wells met with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena  on Thursday, where the two reportedly discussed “democratic reforms and reconciliation process” on the island.

A senior former military official has dismissed war crimes accusations against former army commander Jagath Jayasuriya, who fled Brazil on Sunday after lawsuits were filed against him.

Rtd Major General Kamal Gunaratna, former commander of the 53rd Division which is also thought to have committed mass atrocities during the armed conflict, said the Tamil diaspora orchestrated the charges.

The Acting Assistant Secretary of State of the US, Alice Wells and the US ambassador to Sri Lanka remembered the tens of thousands of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka at an event in Colombo on Tuesday, held to mark International Day of the Disappeared. 

"Today on Int. Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearances we honor #DisappearedSL families searching for answers in SL w @State_SCA A/AS Wells," Mr Keshap tweeted. 

The British Tamils Forum and the US Tamil Political Action Council marked  International Day of the Disappeared on Tuesday and called on Sri Lanka to operationalise the Office of Missing Persons. 

"Tens of thousands of Tamils have been disappeared in Sri Lanka, primarily at the hands of the state’s security forces and allied paramilitaries.  According to Amnesty International, Sri Lanka has a backlog of 60,000 to 100,000 cases of enforced disappearance from all communities since the late 1980s, approximately 20,000 of which are Sinhalese according to Presidential Commissions and the rest are Tamils," the two groups noted in a joint statement. 

Amid military intelligence surveillance, Tamil families of the disappeared marched across the North-East to mark the International Day of Victims of Enforced Disappearance. Demonstrations took place across Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Mannar, Mullaithivu, Vavuniya and Jaffna.