News:2012-08-12/Report/sri-lanka-upsurge-in-illegal-drug-seizures-post-civil-war

12 August 2012

Report

Sri Lanka·

Sri Lanka: Upsurge in illegal drug seizures post-civil war

The IRIN news service reported a documented increase in illegal drug seizures in Sri Lanka following the end of the 26-year civil war in May 2009. Drug arrests climbed from 19,000 in 2009 to nearly 30,000 in 2010 and 40,000 in 2011, with 19,000 arrested by mid-2012 alone. Heroin and cannabis were the most commonly seized drugs. Analysts linked the surge to the opening of formerly LTTE-controlled northern territories and the dismantling of wartime smuggling networks. Rohan Gunaratna of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research described how the LTTE intelligence wing maintained a dedicated heroin trafficking unit with cells in Tamil Nadu, Vanni, and Colombo, noting the business was clandestine even within the LTTE. The NDDCB confirmed Sri Lanka as a transit point for drugs from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India heading to Europe. Community activists attributed the growing trade partly to lax enforcement and political patronage, while treatment data showed nearly 3,000 persons treated island-wide in 2009, predominantly through government centres.

Source: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/96448/sri-lanka-upsurge-illegal-drug-seizures

2012-08-12 Report Sri Lanka: Upsurge in illegal drug seizures post-civil war The IRIN news service reported a documented increase in illegal drug seizures in Sri Lanka following the end of the 26-year civil war in May 2009. Drug arrests climbed from 19,000 in 2009 to nearly 30,000 in 2010 and 40,000 in 2011, with 19,000 arrested by mid-2012 alone. Heroin and cannabis were the most commonly seized drugs. Analysts linked the surge to the opening of formerly LTTE-controlled northern territories and the dismantling of wartime smuggling networks. Rohan Gunaratna of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research described how the LTTE intelligence wing maintained a dedicated heroin trafficking unit with cells in Tamil Nadu, Vanni, and Colombo, noting the business was clandestine even within the LTTE. The NDDCB confirmed Sri Lanka as a transit point for drugs from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India heading to Europe. Community activists attributed the growing trade partly to lax enforcement and political patronage, while treatment data showed nearly 3,000 persons treated island-wide in 2009, predominantly through government centres. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/report/96448/sri-lanka-upsurge-illegal-drug-seizures Sri Lanka