COLOMBO (News 1st):- Currently, drug prevalence, drug-related offenses and drug-related offenders who were arrested by law enforcement agencies are increasing.

Minister of Justice, Human Rights & Legal Reforms, Nimal Siripala de Silva speaking on the matter said, that the number of cases relating to heroin has increased by 64% in comparison to the last year, which he pointed out as a national tragedy. The Minister further said that it is now a huge challenge since it affects the entire society.

According to a report by the Research Division of the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, 4469 people were arrested for drug-related offenses during November and December in 2019. Among those arrested individuals, 2036 people were arrested in November and 2433 were arrested in December. Further, a 19% increase was reported in December with compared to November in 2019. It is important to note that the specific number of narcotic substance users, small scale dealers and large scale narcotic substance importers have not been identified.

However, the authenticity of the numbers mentioned is questionable, as these are only reported convictions. As per the reports produced by the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board, 60% of arrested people in December belonged to the 20-34 age category.

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