President Dissanayake vows to finish Sri Lankas drug menace

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Thursday (October 30, 2025) launched an island-wide programme aimed toward ending the nation’s enduring drug downside that, the chief mentioned, some within the police drive are a part of.

Speaking at an occasion to mark the launch of the initiative, titled ‘United as a Nation – National Drive’, the leftist chief, whose authorities got here to energy a 12 months in the past, warned cops reportedly concerned in narcotics networks of robust motion. “Leave instantly! Otherwise, we are going to take away you,” President Dissanayake mentioned, including that the prevalent opinion that the drug menace could possibly be resolved if the police division is cleansed, “is true”. 

Located alongside an important transport route, Sri Lanka has been grappling with the entry of narcotics substances over a few years. While the island was earlier used principally as a transit hub by worldwide pedlars, the issue of trafficking and drug use inside the island has grown considerably over the previous few years, in line with officers. Youth, specifically, have been affected, making the drug downside a severe concern for folks throughout the nation.

According to knowledge printed by the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, Sri Lanka police made 228,450 drug-related arrests final 12 months, together with by way of a controversial operation launched by the final authorities, the place hundreds have been arrested amid issues of rights violations.

This 12 months, almost 2,00,000 people have been arrested, in line with police data, for alleged possession of narcotic substances, together with heroin, cocaine, “Ice” or methamphetamine and hashish. On October 26, 2025, an Indian nationwide was apprehended on the Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo with a stash of heroin, weighing almost 3 kilos and value thousands and thousands, hid in his baggage. He was travelling from Malaysia, police mentioned.

“Much of the medication getting into Sri Lanka come from Pakistan and Afghanistan,” a senior official advised The Hindu, requesting anonymity, citing sensitivity of the federal government’s new initiative. “Some varieties come from Europe and India as effectively. We now have the assist of the worldwide group to focus on these networks each in land and sea in our respective territories,” he mentioned.

Not simply the police, however Sri Lanka’s navy has additionally been accused of being complicit in narcotics networks. In a latest parliamentary handle, Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) chief and Jaffna District MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam mentioned members of the navy performed “a central position” in drug peddling and use throughout Tamil-majority districts within the island’s north and east, “intentionally fostering” drug dependancy amongst Tamil youth. Drug use took root in Jaffna after it got here underneath navy occupation in 1995, and worsened after 2009, when the civil conflict ended, the legislator mentioned, contending that the usage of medication was “non-existent” when the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) managed the areas. “It is affecting our society like a most cancers,” he mentioned.

With President Dissanayake’s emphasis on eradicating the issue, officers mentioned even police and navy personnel won’t be spared. “In reality we’ve arrested many suspects from the police drive and navy on this connection,” the senior official mentioned. The authorities goals to construct consciousness on the village stage, and is getting ready to arrange infrastructure to assist and rehabilitate customers in all districts, in line with officers.