56,541 people were arrested for various crimes by the police stations all over the islands after 50 days of the ‘Yukthiya’ program carried out under the leadership of the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Deshbandu Tennakoon, who is acting on the advice of the Minister of Public Security, Mr. Tiran Alas, with the aim of suppressing the underworld and eradicating drugs.
If this number is analyzed numerically, about 3 per thousand of the total population of the country have been caught by justice in these 50 days. If we calculate this number after removing the orphans and children as well as the old people who are in one place, at least 05 people per 1000 people of the total population are locked up in justice.
Among the people who have been arrested in these 50 days, there are also those who have been arrested two or three times by the police. The police has not made a precise calculation of that number. Most of those arrested twice are drug addicts. Otherwise, they were arrested on suspicion.
‘Yukthiya’ program is not done yet. According to the Minister of Public Security, Mr. Tiran Alas, Yukthiya is expected to be served until next June.
Yukthiya operation was started on last December 17. According to the official statements of the police, 49,558 suspects related to drug offences and 6,983 suspects who were on the list to be arrested were arrested during the 50 days since then.
The following are the amounts of drugs that the police said were caught by the law during Operation Justice.
142 kg 541 g of heroin,
208 kg 290 g of ice drug,
974 g and 605 mg of cocaine;
49 kg 200 g of Opium,
07 kg 210 g of hashish,
36 kg 800 g of Ash,
2678 kg 910 g of cannabis,
4,347,787 cannabis plants,
162 kg 251 g of Mawa,
07 kg 123 g of Thool,
02 kg 40 g of Kush mixed with ganja,
19 kg 906 g of Madana Modaka,
360,821 drug pills,
have been seized so far in the Yukthiya Operation.
Among these drug stocks are 55 kg and 648 g of heroin, 189 kg and 387 g of ice drug, which were seized with 08 suspects along with two boats in an operation conducted by the Navy on January 5th, and 65 kg of heroin which the Navy seized on January 20th with 11 people in two multi-day vessels. 076 grams is also included in the list of drugs seized during this 50-day Yukthiya operation. That is because the police Narcotics Bureau is conducting investigations regarding the heroin seized by the Navy and the suspects.
Among the 49,558 suspects arrested for drug offenses during this period, 1,817 suspects are being further investigated on detention orders, and 1,981 drug addicts have been referred for rehabilitation.
234 suspects were investigated for illegal assets, and 3,083 suspects who were on the list of the Police Narcotics Bureau and the Police Special Bureau were also arrested.
The market value of the total seized drugs is close to 7,733 million, and the market value of the confiscated properties is close to 726 million, the police said.
Among the 6,983 suspects arrested in the list referred to the criminal divisions, there are 1,117 suspects who were issued open warrants related to drug offences and 5,286 suspects who were issued open warrants related to non-drug offences.
According to the police, 262 suspects who were identified and arrested through fingerprinting and 318 suspects wanted for crimes were also arrested during the operations.
Along with Yukthiya, operations have been launched during this period to find people involved in drug trafficking in connection with 4983 schools across the island. A total of 517 people were arrested for drug trafficking related to schools.
These people have been arrested with,
01 kg 230 g of ganja,
03 kg 650 g of Mawa,
02 kg 345 g of Madana Modaka,
1,285 illegal cigarettes,
01 kg 585 g of tobacco,
85 g of heroin,
48 g of ice, and
1,561drug pills.
The number of schools identified by the Police Special Task Force and the Sri Lanka Police to be under the grip of drug traffickers is 4983. The police assure that 4,876 of those schools are now safe.
According to the instructions of Acting Inspector General of Police Mr. Deshbandu Tennakoon, 5,133 “Paura” Forum Committees have been formed with the participation of the respective school teachers, student leaders and the community around the schools in relation to each school identified as having the circulation of drugs around the school.
According to the reports given by the committee members, the risk of drug availability in 4,876 schools has been reduced to some extent.
Apart from that, since it is confirmed according to the information provided by the “Paura” forums that there is a drug risk in the vicinity of 107 schools, the Acting Inspector General of Police Deshbandu Tennakoon has already given instructions to the Senior Superintendents of Police in charge of divisions to conduct further operations around those schools.
