Steps are being taken to hand over the vehicles confiscated by the customs to the traffic police.
It is to be used for raids done by the Sri Lanka Police Department, including drug prevention.
State Minister for Finance Mr. Ranjith Siambalapitiya joined yesterday (20) to monitor the relevant vehicles currently parked at the Hambantota port premises.
The minister mentioned that some vehicles confiscated due to illegal importation have been rotting for about seven years.
On the instructions of President Ranil Wickramasinghe, Mr. Siambalapitiya said that the purpose of this is to remove the existing legal obstacles regarding the vehicles and use them for the welfare of the people.
“We know there are media reports that drug trafficking is spreading rapidly. The police department has only about 12,000 vehicles to carry out these raids. About half of them are more than 20 years old. These vehicles are not enough for 600 police stations all over the island and 111 police stations that are newly established. Accordingly, these vehicles are provided in response to the request made by the police.” said the minister.
