Under the country wide drug operation ;Yukthiya ; Sri Lankan police have added the names of another 349 wanted drug traffickers to a list of more than 42,000 criminal suspects in an anti-narcotics operation. This list is shared by all police departments on the island to strengthen efforts to combat drug crimes.

The anti-narcotics operation, which began on December 17, 2023, has made significant progress in its mission to arrest drug traffickers and dismantle drug networks. Police headquarters confirmed that the operation will continue across the island to bring these criminals to justice.

As per the instructions of IGP Deshabandu Tennakoon, the list of 296 newly identified drug dealers and 53 relatives of the recently arrested drug dealers has been sent to all the Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP) in charge of the police stations. The purpose of this measure is to ensure that all law enforcement agencies are aware of these individuals and can take the necessary actions against them.

Apart from this development, the police and security forces are working tirelessly to apprehend drug suspects. A total of 705 other suspects were arrested in the 24 hours ending 12 noon today (February 2) as part of operation

During this time, the police confiscated a significant amount of narcotics. The Ministry of Public Security announced that the confiscated drugs include 143g of heroin, 134g of crystal methamphetamine (Ice), 2.88kg of cannabis and 255 narcotic tablets.