File Photo : STF Patrol in Vavuniya
Two people including a police sergeant were arrested for drug possession and for allegedly running a "Kerala cannabis racket" in the Puliyankulama area in Vavuniya.
The suspects aged 41 and 53 were arrested after they were found to be in possession of 6 kilograms of cannabis. A stash of Kerala cannabis worth 1 million Sri Lankan rupees was also seized by Sri Lanka's Special Task Force (STF).
The suspects are to be produced before Vavuniya Magistrates Court following their arrest on 11 December by STF personnel.
The selling and use of drugs across the North-East have been rising since the end of the armed conflict. The former Chief Minister CV Wigneswaran stated in 2015 that Tamil youth are being pushed into drugs and prostitution with the help of the Sri Lankan military and in recent years high profile arrests of Sri Lankan military and Police for drug possessions are common.
Last year over a dozen Sri Lankan police officers from the country’s Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) were arrested for their alleged involvement in an illegal drug ring. According to Al Jazeera, the officers from the PNB helped to smuggle illicit drugs into the country; store them within safe houses; ran fake raids; and then siphoned off a set portion of the stolen goods, securing millions in profit.
Speaking in parliament last year, JVP MP, Vijitha Herath, claimed that the murder of Makandure Madush, a notorious drug “kingpin” who was under police custody at the Maligawatte Housing complex, was done to protect 80 politicians complicit in drug trafficking. The rise in drug use and trafficking is alleged to have been connected to senior Sri Lankan politicians. Last year Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa insisted that Sri Lanka would be “free from drugs [the] same way as it was freed from terrorism”. He added that “several measures are already in place to prevent drug infiltration and distribution”. Under the guise of eradicating the 'drug menace', surveillance and harassment of the Tamil populace have been increasing and militarisation of Tamil land has become rampant.
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