Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has appointed a military-led task force to build “a secure country, disciplined, virtuous and lawful society”.
The Presidential Task Force will be headed by Secretary to the Ministry of Defense Retired Major General Kamal Guneratne, and include heads of the armed forces and chiefs of national and state intelligence agencies.
Curbing drug trafficking
A Gazette notification issued by the President on Tuesday, and signed by his secretary P.B. Jayasundara, said the panel was appointed “considering that it is essential to liberate the entire society” from the drug menace spreading “all over the society”.
The task force has been entrusted with taking immediate steps to “curb the illegal activities of social groups which are violating the law”, prevent entry of drugs from abroad through ports and airports, to “fully eradicate” drug trafficking in the country.
The task force will primarily focus on curbing the narcotics menace, according to Mr. Jayasundara. “The drug menace is rampant, and the networks run internationally. The President felt it was time we took some targeted measures to urgently address this issue,” he told The Hindu .
Sri Lankan authorities believe that the island nation, located amidst a busy sea route, could be used as a hub for narcotics distribution in the region, even as it causes social problems locally.
Different routes
Early March, the Sri Lankan Navy apprehended two foreign trawlers carrying over $33 million worth of heroin and crystal methamphetamine, in one of the biggest hauls of drugs at sea. They found about 400 kgs of heroin and 100 kg of the drug “ice” on board the two vessels, AFP reported.
More recently, the Navy seized $65 million-worth of crystal methamphetamine and ketamine.
The drugs, according to officials, are transported from different countries, including India.
Last week, Ramanathapuram police intercepted a huge consignment of drugs procured from several Indian States, and were moved close to the shoreline in Ramanathapuram district, for smuggling to Sri Lanka by boat. The seized drugs were samples for "quality testing in Sri Lanka,” Ramanathapuram Superintendent of Police Varun Kumar had told The Hindu then. The haul, estimated at ₹10 crore [roughly $1.3 million] in the international market, included different quantities of methamphetamine, opium paste, heroin, MDMA (Ecstasy), amphetamine and methaqualone.
