Over 500 kg drugs seized on Sri Lanka’s southern coast
Colombo, Oct 25 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) The Sri Lankan Navy and Coast Guard on Saturday seized more than 561 kilograms of methamphetamine and heroin during a joint operation on the country’s southern coast, the navy said.
The operation was conducted at Naotunna beach in Thalalla, Matara, following information received by the Coast Guard.
Search teams recovered 21 sacks and travel bags containing suspected narcotics, alongside a dinghy believed to have been used to smuggle the consignment, reports Xinhua news agency.
Examinations conducted with assistance from the Police Narcotics Bureau confirmed more than 240 kilograms of methamphetamine in 200 packages and over 320 kilograms of heroin in 275 packages, the Navy said.
Deputy Defence Minister Aruna Jayasekara said joint Navy and Coast Guard operations over the past year had seized drugs with an estimated street value of 97 billion Sri Lankan rupees (about 292 million U.S. dollars).
He said coordinated operations involving the armed forces, police and local and foreign intelligence agencies would continue to prevent narcotics from entering the country.
Last week, cabinet spokesperson and Health Minister Nalinda Jayatissa announced that the Sri Lankan authorities have arrested 303,017 suspects during a year-long anti-narcotics campaign, “A Nation United”.
The arrests were made between October 30, 2025, when the campaign was launched, and October 18, 2026, Jayatissa told the weekly cabinet media briefing.
He said authorities conducted 97,074 raids targeting heroin and seized 2,485.1 kg of the drug, while 18,710 raids involving crystal methamphetamine resulted in the seizure of 3,302.7 kg.
Police also seized 297.1 kg of cocaine, 11,146 kg of cannabis, 1,723 kg of kush, 416 kg of hashish and 4.5 million narcotic pills during the operation.
Jayatissa said investigations into illegal assets had been initiated against 449 suspects, while detention orders were obtained against 3,749 suspects.
A further 2,580 people were referred for rehabilitation, he said. So far in 2026, authorities have seized 1,469 kg of heroin, 7,703 kg of cannabis, 272 kg of cocaine, 857 kg of hashish and 1,649 kg of crystal methamphetamine.
