23 High-Profile Overseas-based Drug Traffickers Identified

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lanka has identified 23 high-profile individuals involved in organized crime and international drug trafficking operations who are currently evading arrest while residing overseas, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala revealed.

The Minister stated that intelligence findings indicate these narcotics traffickers are primarily based in countries across the Middle East, operating extensive criminal networks that extend into Sri Lanka.

According to the minister, while these top-tier figures remain abroad, their second and third-level operatives continue to function within the country, facilitating drug distribution and coordinating underworld activities.

"Twenty-three leading drug traffickers involved in narcotics operations have now been identified. These individuals are not residing in our country; they are living overseas, particularly in Middle Eastern countries. Their second and third-level operatives are the ones operating within Sri Lanka," said the Minister.

He said that law enforcement agencies have gathered comprehensive intelligence on these high-level traffickers, including the nature of their operations and their links to organized crime.

"We have conducted in-depth analysis and are taking all necessary steps to bring them within the reach of the law. A significant number have already been brought back to the country, and legal action is currently being taken against them," he added.

According to the Minister, in the coming days and in the future, special investigative teams will be deployed even to those foreign countries to ensure these individuals are apprehended.