COLOMBO, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has arrested over 168,000 suspects in anti-drug operations since October 2025 and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has ordered legal reforms to strengthen the anti-drug campaign, the President's Media Division (PMD) said in a statement on Thursday.
Authorities have seized 5,437.4 kilos of cannabis, 1,936.3 kilos of heroin, 1,991.4 kilos of crystal methamphetamine, 271.7 kilos of cocaine, 1,574,895 narcotic pills and 629,988 illicit cigarettes since the operation began on Oct. 30, 2025, PMD said.
PMD said that drug-related raids had increased by 80 percent since the launch of the program.
The president also instructed authorities to expedite the destruction of seized narcotics under proper legal procedures to prevent them from re-entering society, the PMD said. ■