We have witnessed an alarming increase in the number of narcotics related offences in recent times and yesterday’s newspapers alone reported several incidents. In one of the most high-profile cases this year, around 200 kilogrammes of heroin worth Rs.2 billion was seized at the Anawilundawa Bird Sanctuary in the Chilaw coastal area on Thursday morning. A suspect and a Land Rover Defender were also taken into Police custody.
Police say this is the largest haul of heroin detected in Sri Lanka in the recent past. Police believe that the mastermind behind this heroin smuggling racket is the same individual behind the recent Piliyandala incident where officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau came under attack, killing one policeman. In another incident, Police found heroin with a street value of Rs.35 million in a garbage dump at Maradana, one of the busiest areas in Colombo.
These incidents expose two trends in drug smuggling. Sri Lanka is being used by smugglers as a hub – sometimes Sri Lanka is the final destination but sometimes the narcotics are bound to another destination via Sri Lanka. Preliminary investigations reveal that the 200 Kg of heroin was brought by ship from Pakistan into Sri Lankan waters, where it had been loaded to a multi-day vessel. The multi-day vessel had then transferred the haul of heroin to a day-fishing vessel which carried it to the Muthupanthiya beach to be handed over to the suspect.
The other trend is the brazenly visible nexus between the underworld and the narcotics trade. The Piliyandala shooting is a prime example for the involvement of various gangs in the illegal drugs business. Drug running is a lucrative business for organised crime gangs and also terrorist groups. A US$ 75 million shipload of tramadol, a synthetic opioid-like drug used as a painkiller to be sold to ISIS terrorists in Libya to give them greater strength, was recently seized by the Italian police. The smuggling route involved South Asia.
There is only none answer to both these trends: better intelligence, vigilance and policing. During the recent past, drug smugglers enjoyed political patronage at the highest level. That link has now been firmly severed, but it is not easy to entirely cut off the flow of narcotics given our porous maritime borders. The Sri Lanka Coastguard and the Navy cannot be everywhere as they have limited resources and even for the Indian Coastguard and the Navy which have far more resources, it is not easy to maintain 24-hour vigilance in a vast stretch of the sea. Besides, both sides also have to ensure that fishermen from both countries do not cross the International Maritime Boundary Line, which is a full-time task. However, they often manage to catch culprits despite the constraints – last month, the Sri Lanka Navy nabbed six drug smugglers.
Narcotics smugglers make use of these factors to sneak their way in. They smuggle not only drugs, but also other valuable contraband such as gold and cigarettes, but nothing beats narcotics in terms of money. South Asia has become a sort of an alternative “golden triangle” for drug smugglers. This calls for enhanced cooperation among all SAARC countries to curb the smuggling of narcotics. Sharing intelligence on narcotics smugglers is thus essential.
Border security and vigilance must be tightened. Our international airports have a good success rate in nabbing drug smugglers, but the same cannot be said about maritime entry points and borders. Any loopholes that exist in this regard must be closed by providing additional resources where possible. Most countries now depend on manned and unmanned air surveillance to gather intelligence on smugglers’ movements. Since we do not possess any specialized manned surveillance aircraft, the next best alternative is using military-grade Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to patrol our territorial waters. From procurement to deployment, this costs much less than operating manned aircraft. The UAVs can track any suspicious vessels in real time and ground-based controllers can alert the Navy/Coastguard to board or apprehend such vessels.
There is also a notion in society that only the “small fry” involved in the drugs trade such as street level peddlers ever get caught, while the kingpins get away scot free. It is indeed vital to net the big fish. Again, this is a matter of collecting intelligence and acting upon them. Taking action against the underworld is also vital because the drugs trade cannot thrive without their support and involvement. Any corrupt elements on the law enforcement side must also be identified.
Illicit drugs are one of the biggest problems faced by modern society. Addicts in Sri Lanka consume Rs.450 million worth of narcotics every day according to ADIC (Alcohol and Drug Information Centre). One can imagine the adverse effects of narcotics addiction on individuals, families, the wider society and the economy. After all, it is the youth in the prime of their lives who get addicted to drugs. The rehabilitation of drug addicts and the elimination of drug supplies must thus be parallel efforts. We should make every effort to save the future generations from this scourge.
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