News
One month into ‘Yukthiya’, authorities hail it as a success
View(s):- 1493 out of the identified 4294 drug traffickers have been arrested, they say
By Sandun Jayawardana
One month after the launch of the “Yukthiya” (Justice) operation island-wide, authorities claimed that more than 65% of key individuals involved in narcotics distribution had been arrested, resulting in a drastic reduction in the availability of narcotics.
On Thursday (18), Public Security Minister Tiran Alles and Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon told the media that the operation has brought much success within its first month and will continue until its ultimate objective of dismantling the country’s narcotics trafficking networks is achieved.
While authorities hope to achieve the main objectives of the operation by June 30, Minister Alles stressed that the date was not a hard and fast deadline. “If we have achieved 80% of what we set out to do by June 30, we will continue the work until the remaining 20% is also achieved,” he noted. The minister added that all crime was down 17% across the country during the month that the operation took place. He also brushed aside criticism levelled at the operation, both locally and internationally, saying the “Yukthiya” had widespread public support.
Before the start of the operation, a list of 4294 drug traffickers identified by the Special Investigation Bureau and the Police Narcotics Bureau was sent to Senior Superintendents of Police in charge of 45 police divisions, Acting IGP Tennakoon said. One month into the operation, 1493 out of these 4294 have been arrested. That accounts for 65.23%, he said.
He said that street level prices of drugs had skyrocketed over the past month. “In some provinces, where the price of a packet of drugs was between Rs. 1000-1500, it has gone up to between Rs. 6000-7000 now, Mr Tennakoon claimed.
The intelligence services have also launched an operation to identify who is stepping in to take the place of drug traffickers that are arrested. Those names too will be added to the police list, said the Acting IGP.
According to statistics given by the Acting IGP, 72kg of Heroin, 206kg of Ice, 948g of Cocaine, 655kg of Ganja, 2.92 million Ganja plants, 136kg of Maawa and 36kg of Hash were among the drugs seized in the operation during the past month. The total value of the seized drugs amounted to nearly Rs. 4.7 billion, he added.
Authorities conducted 38, 529 raids during the operation, making 38, 525 arrests. Detention orders were obtained against 1703 of the suspects. The vast majority of those arrested have been released on bail, and authorities said they estimated that only about 5000 remain in custody.
| Navy seizes drugs and 2 boats in operation off Dondra Head A multi-day fishing trawler transporting over 60 kilograms of narcotics suspected to be heroin and another trawler suspected to have aided it were seized by the navy yesterday and brought into the Galle harbour. They were seized during an operation conducted about 100 nautical miles (185 kilometres) off the Dondra Head. Eleven suspects who were in the two boats were also arrested. The drugs were concealed in three fertiliser bags. The arrested suspects who are between the ages of 28 and 52 have been identified as residents of Matara, Gandara and Devundara. The navy added that the suspects, along with the two vessels and the seized drugs will be handed over to the Police Narcotics Bureau. | |
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