Inactive Police Units Will Be Bypassed in Drug Raids

COLOMBO (News 1st); Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala announced that drug-related raids will be carried out by alternative police divisions if the designated local units fail to act on credible intelligence.

The Minister emphasized that Sri Lanka’s drug crisis is evolving, with recent revelations confirming that synthetic narcotics like “ice” are now being produced domestically, not just trafficked from countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Iran. 

This shift has prompted a more aggressive and coordinated response from national authorities.

“There’s a perception that when information is given to the police, it ends up in the hands of the traffickers,” the Minister said. “We are putting an end to that belief.”

According to Wijepala, police operations have intensified, with 22 metric tons of narcotics seized in the past year, alongside the recovery of over 2,000 illegal firearms. 

The Minister made it clear that police divisions failing to act on intelligence will be bypassed, with other units instructed to carry out the necessary raids.

“When two or three successful operations are conducted by external units,” he said, “the local officer-in-charge will have to ask themselves whether they still deserve that chair.”