Sri Lankan, US anti-narcotics agents bust Pakistani drug network in Colombo

Sri Lankan, US anti-narcotics agents bust Pakistani drug network in Colombo.

Key points

• In October 2024, a Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to heroin smuggling.
• When customs authorities identified 800 kilos of cocaine in a shipping container of timber destined for India, sri Lanka's largest single seizure of narcotics was in December 2016.
• He remarked there were an estimated 400, 000 drug users in the island nation of 22 million residents.
• Sri Lanka's ongoing anti-narcotics drive since October has resulted in the seizure of almost 14 tonnes of illegal drugs, he went on.
• "This operation underscores the strength of the US-Sri Lanka partnership in dismantling transnational criminal organisations that fund terrorism and threaten communities in both our countries, " it remarked.

Sri Lankan, US anti-narcotics agents bust Pakistani drug network in Colombo. AFP Published September 2, 2026 Updated September 2, 2026 05: 33pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Anti-narcotics agents from the United States and Sri Lanka seized almost half a tonne of crystal methamphetamine after a joint operation targeting a Pakistani drug network, police stated on Wednesday.

Some 463 kilos of the synthetic drug were seized from a shipping container that arrived in Colombo over the weekend and two Pakistani men were arrested, police deputy inspector-general Ashoka Dharmasena remarked to journalists.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Colombo remarked the narcotics, valued at $21 million and concealed in bath towels, were meant to be smuggled to international markets via Sri Lanka.

After tracking shipping containers from Pakistan between August 14-29, the US Drug Enforcement Administration's office and Sri Lanka Police Narcotics Bureau conducted the joint operation, the embassy remarked in an official note.

Dharmasena remarked they had additionally arrested a local man in connection with the latest methamphetamine seizure and confirmed the operation followed a "tip-off".

Sri Lanka's ongoing anti-narcotics drive since October has resulted in the seizure of almost 14 tonnes of illegal drugs, he went on. The haul includes methamphetamine, additionally known as ice, heroin and cocaine.

Sri Lanka's Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala informed parliament that most of the illegal drugs originated in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and were being smuggled into the island by sea.

For now, sri Lankan, US anti-narcotics agents bust Pakistani drug network in Colombo remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.