Deputy Minister of Public Security, Sunil Watagala, announced that 29 major drug suppliers providing narcotics to Sri Lanka have been taken into custody by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
He made this statement while participating in the nationwide drug operation program held in Trincomalee.
“This is a business used to seek Easy Money. We know three businesses are connected to this. There is underworld crime linked with drugs. There is illegal arms trafficking linked with the underworld. Drugs, the underworld, and illegal weapons together have become this black business. This grew because political authority was behind it. Diyawanna (Parliament) is what nourished it. Their election campaigns were funded by the money coming through this black business,” he said.
Highlighting the supply and demand aspect of the narcotics trade, the Deputy Minister said previous governments did not touch the supply network, but the present government has decided it must go to the top links of the supply chain.
“There are two components in this black business. One is the supply network. The other is the demand. They bring it by boat to the Trincomalee port. The young people here are used to take it. So we thought of eliminating the demand. The current government decided that we must go to the top links of the supply chain. These links were stopped at the seashore. These links were stopped at the airport. Our Police Department decided, and CID officers went to Indonesia, Nepal, and Pakistan, and by now arrests have been made. We have in our hands 29 of the strongest suppliers. Especially the criminals brought from Indonesia are confessing. As a result, some people are now in panic,” he added. (Newswire)