Death penalty on drug traffickers in near future - President

President Maithripala Sirisena yesterday (Jan 30) said that the death penalty against drug traffickers would be implemented in the near future.

Addressing an anti-narcotic programme themed 'A country free from drugs' in Matara, President Sirisena added that the flaws in the mechanism to curb the usage of narcotics must be recitified in order to make the process even stronger.

He also said that children were the best individuals to carry forth the anti-narcotic message to the society.

"Certain drug dealers topple governments and destroy countries. These individuals are a disaster to the society irrespective of how they portray themselves" he remarked.

The President also claimed that several historically important documents in the Archives Department which have not been released to the public have been handed over to a foreigner without the knowledge of the Department and the government.

"The representative from that country had arrived at the Department, scanned and photocopied the relevant documents and had later returned to his country" he added.