THE MALIMAWA GOVERNMENT PT 4A
Posted on July 26th, 2026
KAMALIKA PIERIS
NEGOMBO PRISON RIOTS, JULY 2026.
Sri Lanka’s strategic position in the Indian Ocean makes it a major transshipment hub for narcotics trafficking between the “Golden Crescent” (Afghanistan/Pakistan), the “Golden Triangle” (Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos) and the markets in Europe and North America. This route is now used by narcotics dealers in Sri Lanka, to obtain narcotics for use in Sri Lanka. It was reported in 2025 that if 100 units arrive, approximately 90 units are destined for Sri Lanka’s internal consumption.
In 2026, Sri Lanka experienced a rise in sophisticated maritime drug trafficking operations, Drug smugglers were using new routes, international networks, and advanced methods to transport illegal drugs into the country.
In January 2026, the Sri Lankan Navy intercepted two trawlers in the southern sea of Sri Lanka, carrying more than 184 kilograms of heroin and 112 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine (Ice).
In March 2026, Sri Lanka authorities dismantled a major drug syndicate that transported drugs from Kathmandu in Nepal, through India’s Sonauli border, and then to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu before sending them by sea to Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan drug kingpins were involved in financing and coordinating these operations.
No country can completely control the infiltration of narcotics into their country. El Salvadore with just one shoreline, was able to achieve this, probably temporarily, but Sri Lanka certainly can’t. It is nonsense to say that it can. With a sea shore all round the country, and isolated sea beyond, narcotics can be smuggled from anywhere on our lengthy shoreline. Transfers take place mid-sea, in international waters and fishing boats bring the narcotics into Sri Lanka.
Despite this, there have been two heavy handed government initiatives to curb narcotic use. The first was Yukthiya” (2023) under President Ranil Wickremesinghe followed by Ratama Ekata” (2025) under President Anura Kumara.
YUKTHIYA
The government launched a special operation throughout the island starting December 17, 2023, named Yukthiya, to crush, simultaneously, both narcotics trade and organized crime. Drug trafficking and underworld activities would be eradicated from the country by June 2024, the government declared. In 2023 cannabis accounted for 58% and heroin accounted for 29% of the drug offender population.
Sunday Times reported on the campaign, with an entertaining essay. Thousands of police officers and Special Task Force personnel throughout the island have been carrying out searches and raids since the operation began, said Sunday Times. They are assisted by the military. Police claimed that they had disrupted the networks of leading drug dealers, by seizing their assets and arresting their associates.
The week-long island wide police crack down on narcotics trafficking and underworld activities brought significant results, particularly the seizure of assets worth millions, continued Sunday Times. The assets seized include various types of vehicles ranging from motorbikes to buses and SUVs, houses, commercial buildings and even a multi-day fishing trawler.
Police had arrested more than 12, 000 persons as part of the ‘Yukthiya’ operation. The vast majority of them had been picked up on suspicion and later released on bail. Intelligence reports had identified 4665 key individuals involved in drug trafficking. 731 such persons had been arrested during the first four days of the operation alone, concluded Sunday Times.
The media reported that about 8,500 arrests were made in the first five days. This had increased to 29,000 as of January 09, 2024. The numbers being taken to custody, exceeds prison capacity. Also, it adds to the expenses. It costs the prisons department Rs. 800 a day to feed a prisoner. The sample testing at Government Analyst will cost around Rs. 5,000.
Critics commented on the low quantity of drugs recovered. For an operation of such scale, the seized amount of heroin is paltry,” they said. After five days, hundreds of officers, and 10,000 plus people arrested, they only seized 7.7 kg of heroin. That shows that the target was low-level users and dealers. [1]Due to poverty many would have been pushed to selling drugs to survive. They are trapped in a cycle of poverty, substance abuse, violence and imprisonment.
Large scale traffickers may be operating from abroad but there will be middle level dealers in the country and the drugs will be stored somewhere, said critics. If the government really wanted to deal with drug trafficking, they would be targeting them. Critics observed that none of the key figures in the underworld have been arrested.
Also, if they are conducting a serious operation, why do they need to have cameras filming them during the operation, they asked. What’s happening is more like theatre. This appears to be a publicity campaign.
The operation was heavily criticized. There were mass arrests. Those targeted were addicts and small-time pushers. Most were unable to pay the legal fees and ended up in prison. Relatives of those who had been arrested went to the Committee for Protecting the Rights of Prisoners. Sometimes, both mother and father have been taken away, leaving children without their parents.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights urged the government to review Yukthiya. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International Commissionof Jurists and 30 other international human rights organizations also wanted ‘Yukthiya’ halted. They asked the government to stop the ‘abusive anti-drug operation’ and release those arrested without evidence or reasonable suspicion.
These 33 organizations issued a joint statement, in which they said that Yukthiya was engaged in arbitrary arrests, in searches conducted without warrants or reasonable suspicion. The arrests involved degrading treatment, including strip searches in public. The searches and arrests were televised, in violation not only of the right to privacy, but also of a person’s right to be presumed innocent. Persons are arrested even when no drugs are found in their possession, said the joint statement. Arrests of main livelihood earners and mothers have adversely impacted the wellbeing of children.
The punishment for possession and selling of narcotics is a harsh one. A 37-year-old father of two was sentenced to life imprisonment in May 2025, on two counts of heroin possession and trafficking. He was caught with 6.95 grams of heroin. The prosecution argued for the maximum sentence, citing the grave social harm caused by drug trafficking and the need for a strong deterrent. Nothing happened to the drug dealer.
There was an unprecedented hike in detainees thanks to the newly enacted Poisons, Opium, and Dangerous Drugs (Amendment) Act, No. 41 of 2022. Earlier, High court granted bail to suspects allegedly possessing narcotics of 2 grams or more, and the lower courts granted bail below that level.
Under the new Act, anyone suspected of possessing narcotics of 10 grammes or more of pure quantity had to get bail from the Court of Appeal.Before that, a report by the Government Analysts Department was needed to determine whether the seized substance was narcotic or not and what its pure quantity was. This would take an average of six months or more. During this time, the suspect would be kept in remand prison.
This has led to prison overcrowding. The year 2023 showed a spike in numbers. While the prison system usually absorbed between 10,000 and 20,000 fine defaulters annually. 2023 saw 31,822 persons jailed for this. 62.2% were for narcotic offenses.[2] Most were there because they were unable to pay the fines imposed by court. They earned less than Rs. 3,000 per month or had no income.
RATAMA EKATA.
Malimawa government started Ratama Ekata on 30 October 2025, aimed at eradicating illicit drugs and drug trafficking. Malimawa was going to completely eradicate the drug trafficking network in the country.
This venture was praised. Sri Lanka now has a government that is not linked to the world of drugs and organized crime. We must appreciate its unique position in the fight against crime and drugs, said one commentator. Ratama Ekata seems to be targeting large scale drug traffickers and not just addicts and small-time sellers ,said another.
Malimawa was complacent. We have arrested the Sri Lankans engaged in large-scale drug trafficking at international level and brought them to Sri Lanka, said Malimawa. Further, the operation has united all the people of the entire country and has reached village level. Earlier, villagers were afraid to give information regarding drug offences because they would be killed. Now many people are providing information regarding drug trafficking without fear.
The public received regular reports of the progress of Ratama Ekata. Police Media Division stated on May 16, 2026, that 176,269 persons have been arrested in raids carried out around the country since the launch of the operation. 991 raids were conducted across the country on June 21. More than 27,000 inspections were carried out nationwide by June 23
The preferred narcotics were heroin and Ice, said Malimawa. By June 2026, Police had seized approximately 464 grammes of heroin, five kilogrammes and 63 grammes of methamphetamine (Ice), one kilogramme and 363 grammes of hashish, and over one gramme of Kush. Police had confiscated 35 kilogrammes and 812 grammes of Madana Modaka, four kilogrammes and 244 milligrammes of Mawa, 2177 narcotic pills, and a staggering 2,514,631 cannabis plants.[3]Cocaine was also found in these raids.
However, commentators noted that Malimawa did not carry out the prison reforms it had promised. Instead Malimawa continued to use the 2022 Act, causing, once more, a quantum leap in the number of detainees. Though the prison population experienced a quantum leap, the number of prison staff and prison facilities remained unchanged.
There was increased overcrowding in the prison. More and more persons were charged with drug offenses, and by mid-2026, prison population reached a new high. 42,034 offenders had been jailed. Of this, 73.8% were remand prisoners charged with narcotic offenses. They were there because of factors beyond their control, long pre-trial detention, delays in court proceedings, delays in Government Analyst report and the inability to find the money to get bail. ( continued)
References
https://dailynews.lk/2026/07/08/politics/1023146/parliament-113
https://island.lk/father-of-two-gets-life-imprisonment-for-possession-of-heroin
https://island.lk/govt-notches-up-success-but-at-a-cost
https://island.lk/negombo-anatomy-of-a-system-unchanged
https://island.lk/pressure-mounts-on-govt-to-halt-operation-yukthiya/.
https://www.sundaytimes.lk/251116/columns/all-roads-lead-to-joint-opposition-rally-or-do-they-621439.html https://www.sundaytimes.lk/260712/news/fine-defaulters-fuel-prison-bulge-648876.html