With the rising drug menace in the country, News 1st set out to educate the public on the ill effects of drugs and narcotics through a National Anti Drug Drive in June 2015.

This initiative was carried out in collaboration with the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board and the Sri Lanka Police. The programme was organised under the theme “Say NO to Drugs.” Meanwhile the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board has released the Handbook of Drug Abuse Information for the year 2015.

According to the report, there have been 82,482 drug-related arrests in the previous year. The NDDCB says that heroin is smuggled into the island by fishing boats or by couriers posing as tourists.

Most of the heroin brought in to the country is from India and Pakistan. The drug is mainly smuggled via South India to the western coast of Sri Lanka using fishing boats. The report further adds that In 2015, 47 kilogrammes of heroin were seized and 26,539 persons were arrested. Heroin-related arrests have increased in 2015 by 14 percent compared to 2014. In the year 2016, several large hauls of heroin, cocaine and cannabis were seized.

Here is a look at the major drug busts that took place during the last two months.

• 01.11.2016 : Four individuals arrested near the coast of Saambal in Kovilan, Karainagar, for the possession of the 73.9 kilogrammes of Kerala Ganja.
• 20.11.2016 : Four foreign nationals arrested in close proximity to the Mount Lavinia railway station in possession of heroin worth Rs. 20 million.
• 24.11.2016 : Two suspects arrested in Kodikaamam for possessing a stock of Kerala Ganja.
• 09.12.2016 : The largest haul of cocaine discovered in South Asia was found aboard a ship anchored at the Colombo Port. Market value of the stock of cocaine weighing nearly 800 kilogrammes is Rs. 12 billion.
• 16.12.2016 : Police seized a haul of heroin while it was being transported in Nagahaduwa, Kalutara.

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• All Banks will remain open on Special Government Holiday
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