Nearly 15,000 people have been arrested in a controversial massive anti-drug operation in Sri Lanka, police say. More than 13,660 suspects and nearly 1,100 addicts were arrested during the week-long operation, carried out jointly with the army, the Asian country’s police said on Sunday.
The addicts were taken to a military rehabilitation center. According to the information, a total of almost 440 kilos of drugs were seized, including cannabis, hashish and heroin. In relation to the extent of the operation, the amount of medication is manageable. Several tons of drugs have been seized this year in the European ports of Hamburg and Rotterdam.
Critical observers see the action as blind activism aimed at the lower hierarchical levels of the drug scene. Activist Ambika Satkunanathan, for example, called the arrests on social network X a ‘farce’. “If they had targeted people at the middle and higher levels of the hierarchy, larger quantities of drugs would have been seized,” she wrote.
1/ Why does the current phase of the war on drugs seem like a farce?
After five days of extensive searches and more than 10,000 arrests, the reported total amounts of drugs seized were:
Heroin – 7.7 kg
Ice – 3.8 kg
Cannabis – 225.7 kg
Pills – 44,267— Ambika Satkunanathan (@ambikasat) December 23, 2023
Human rights activists sharply criticized the large-scale operation. It was carried out without a search warrant, explains lawyer Hejaaz Hezbollah. Activist Ambika Satkunanathan criticized that the searches were not based on evidence, but rather targeted “only poor areas”. Police arrest drug users and small-time dealers, but do not concentrate on major drug dealers.
Sri Lanka has more than 22 million inhabitants and the government has been fighting the illegal drug trade for years. As in the Philippines, small-time dealers and drug users are now also the focus of authorities.
Used sources:
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
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