Operation ‘Yukthiya’ : Over 40,000 arrested in a month

January 18, 2024 at 1:15 PM

A total of 40, 590 suspects have been apprehended within the last month, ending on Wednesday (Jan 17), as part of the islandwide special operation ‘Yukthiya’ carried out by the Police Special Task Force (STF). 

According to the authorities, among the arrested suspects, 38,225 were apprehended for drug-related crimes.

Detention orders have been obtained against 1, 703, and 1,867 addicted to narcotics have been transferred to rehabilitation centres. 

Investigations into illegal assets have been commenced against 225 suspects, while 2,801 suspects are those wanted by the Police STF and Narcotics Bureau.

The value of the drugs seized during the raids has been estimated as Rs. 4,791 million and the seized illegal assets are worth Rs. 725 million. 

A total of 2,365 suspects have been arrested as per a list provided to the Crimes Investigation Unit, including 536 against whom open warrants had been issued for drug offences and 1,499 against whom open warrants had been issued for other crimes. 

The authorities revealed that 149 missing suspects were identified and arrested through fingerprinting, while 181 suspects wanted for crimes were also apprehended. 

The ‘Yukthiya’ islandwide special operation was launched by the Police STF on December 17, 2023, to curb drug-related activities in Sri Lanka. (NewsWire)