President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday warned Parliament that Sri Lanka is now facing a dangerous evolution of organised crime, where drug traffickers, armed criminals, corrupt state officials, political actors and even segments of the media have converged into a single network of influence.
The President said that what began decades ago as small village-level thuggery had grown into a powerful, well-financed criminal ecosystem through political protection, contracts, and later, large-scale drug trafficking.
He said the political culture of the late 1970s enabled this transformation. “After 1977, every MP had a thug next to him. That is when these individuals obtained political protection. They were no longer the small-time characters from the village,” he told Parliament.
According to the President, once these groups entered the drug trade, the huge financial gains allowed them to infiltrate the state mechanism. “They bribed Police officers, the RMV, Immigration and Customs. Money brought them social respect, and those rejected by society created alternative power through wealth,” he said.
The President said the influence later extended into legitimate businesses and media organisations. “Some businessmen even started investing money in the media,” he said, adding that this created a coordinated structure combining political authority, drug financiers, armed criminals, corrupt state officials and a media network.
He noted that the intelligence services will soon reveal links between certain media networks and the drug underworld.
“This is no longer just a drug seller or a thug. It has become an organised entity with international links,” he said, referencing global incidents such as the assassination of the President of Haiti and targeted killings in Mexico linked to drug cartels.
The President warned that criminal networks in Sri Lanka have now evolved into a “ring of thieves” capable of influencing society, politics, state institutions, and public opinion. (Newswire)