Two suspects have been arrested in Wattala and Borella along with a stock of stimulants worth over four crore rupees after raiding the organized racket of selling stimulants to sportsmen by accepting orders online.
It was in a raid yesterday (16) by the Central Anti-Corruption Task Force located in Panadura Walane with the support of the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency and the Food and Drug Control Division.
The central anti-corruption force officers have also raided the place where banned stimulants are distributed to the entire country on Kota Road, Borella.
Drugs worth more than 04 crore rupees were hidden there. 05 types of injections and pills banned in the world were among the stimulants found here.
It has also been found in the investigation that these prohibited stimulants are produced in Belgium and the United Kingdom. According to information from the Central Anti-Corruption Task Force, this racket is run by a person from Sri Lanka who is doing business in England and a cousin of the businessman was arrested at Kota Road, Borella, along with banned stimulants.
A senior officer of the Central Anti-Corruption Squad said they were hidden in a place selling bodybuilding equipment and nutritional supplements to distribute these banned stimulants. The investigation has revealed that these stimulants are sold at prices between 10,000 and 12,000 rupees and are mostly bought by bodybuilders, athletes, rugby players, weightlifters and cyclists.
Chief Inspector of Police Indika Weerasinghe stated that this raid was carried out in accordance with the Anti-Doping Convention Act of 2013 bearing the number 32 of 2013 and the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency informed that this is the first time such a raid has been carried out under this Act in the country.
According to the information received by the Director of the Central Anti-Corruption Force, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Mr. Udayakumara, following a long raid conducted by a team including Sergeant Jayalal of the Intelligence Division under the leadership of the Station Commander, Chief Inspector Indika Weerasinghe, the raid was carried out by ordering 37,000 doping injections online by Constable Prabuddha of the Police Body Development Association, who is working in the Central Anti-Corruption Force.
According to that order, the smugglers have informed a supermarket parking lot in Wattala to collect the stimulants.
The Central Anti-Corruption Force informed Mr. Darshana Gallage, the Director of Anti-Doping Agency, about this and got the support of the Anti-Doping Agency for the raid. There, the investigating officer of that institution Mr. Janaka Kumara has joined the raid. Apart from that, the officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Task Force have taken steps to involve food inspectors such as Mahinda Kumarasiri, D.R.W.Bandara, and R.M.Karunaratne, led by Chief Food and Drug Inspector Amith Perera, in this raid.
The Central Anti-Corruption Squad states that during the questioning of the person arrested at the Wattala car park, information was revealed about the place where stimulants are being distributed across the country. The man had brought the stimulants to Wattala on a motorcycle. He was arrested and the motorcycle was also taken into police custody. After questioning, he was handed over to Wattala Police Station for further investigation.
Then Chief Inspector Indika Weerasinghe, station commander of the Central Anti-Corruption Force, raided the dope distribution point located on Borella Kota Road. During the questioning of the suspect who was arrested there, he said that his relative in England was sending these banned stimulants from England to Sri Lanka as air cargo. During the questioning, he said that the businessman also visits this country frequently.
The Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Institute says that by using these banned stimulants, the chemical composition of the human body changes and the bodies grow artificially. The Central Anti-Corruption Bureau states that many side effects will occur from this, such as sexual weakness, sexual changes, prostate cancer and kidney and liver diseases.
The Central Anti-Corruption Strike Force states that the suspect arrested in Borella during this raid has been placed in the custody of Food and Drug Inspectors and they will take further legal action.
The officials were involved in this raid are sub-Inspector Sandaruwan, Sergeant Jayalal (428), Constables Priyantha (82453), Prabuddha (77981), Sanjeeva (91287), Thisara (80501) and Kumara (105716) under the leadership of Chief Inspector Indika Weerasinghe, Station Commander of the Central Anti-Corruption Squad.
