COLOMBO: Sri Lankan police arrested three Iranian men and seized a haul of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of tens of millions of dollars, a spokesman said Thursday.

Two men travelling from Qatar were arrested Wednesday when customs officers at the island`s international airport found more than eight kilos (17.6 pounds) of the narcotic, Prishantha Jayakody said.

Questioning of the men led to the arrest in Colombo of another Iranian man, who also had eight kilos of the drug on him.

"This is the first time we are finding such a large haul of methamphetamine," Jayakody said. "In Sri Lanka, this type of drug is new and the street value is tens of millions of dollars."

In February, police seized heroin worth 780,000 dollars in a major blow to smugglers who are believed to use the island as a drug trafficking route from India.

BDST: 1257 HRS, August 12, 2010