The island nation of 22 million people is known as a hub for drug trafficking. There has been an increase in drug-related incidents in recent years, with about 162,000 people arrested in 2023 for such offenses, government data showed. In 2017, the number was about 81,000.
In a special operation on the high seas on Saturday morning, the Sri Lanka Navy confiscated a multi-day fishing trawler and arrested seven suspects.
“This is the largest amount of drugs caught by the Sri Lankan navy from a multi-day Sri Lankan fishing trawler,” Sri Lanka Navy spokesman Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath told Arab News on Sunday.
They were brought to Dikkowita Harbor, about 10 kilometers north of the capital Colombo, for an inspection carried out by the Police Narcotic Bureau.
“They scaled them and found ICE (crystal meth), approximately more than 671 kilograms, and heroin approximately more than 191 kilograms,” Sampath said.
The drugs were “meticulously hidden” in the multi-day fishing trawler, the navy said in a statement.
The Sri Lanka Navy said it has been working with local and international intelligence agencies to tighten “its grip on criminal networks operating” in Sri Lankan waters.
“No illegal substances, particularly narcotics, will be allowed to enter the country via sea routes,” the navy statement read.
“Smuggling of narcotics disguised as fishing operations, or any attempt to aid and abet such activities, will be met with strict action.”
Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who took office in September, has called on authorities to scale up efforts to “suppress drug trafficking” since late last year.
In a discussion with police chiefs from the Western Province — the country’s most densely populated — last month, he said he was committed to “eliminate organized crime and drug abuse” in the country.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry announced Friday the seizure of 2.156 tons of drugs so far in 2025, and pledged to intensify anti-drug operations.
Hussein al-Tamimi, spokesperson for the ministry's General Directorate of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Affairs, told the official Iraqi News Agency that 194 international and 1,365 local drug traffickers have been arrested this year.
The chaos and conflicts in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003 have impeded successive Iraqi governments from effectively addressing the threat of drugs.
Over 6 tons of drugs were seized and 14,438 suspects involved in drug crimes were arrested in 2024, the ministry said in late December.
In May 2023, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani underlined the importance of waging "a war on drugs," saying that drug dealing remains a major source of funding for terrorism and that the circulation of drugs flourishes in the shadow of terrorism.
Saudi auithorities has prevented an attempt to smuggle 1,364,706 Captagon pills into Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Gazette reported .The pills were found hidden in a shipment that entered Saudi Arabia through the port.
ZATCA stated that the shipment concealed the pills inside air conditioners, the report said, adding that the authority confirmed that the drugs were seized following an inspection and that customs officials foiled the smuggling attempt.
“The authority emphasized that it is continuing to tighten customs control over the Kingdom’s imports and exports to prevent smuggling attempts in its bid to ensure the security and protection of society,” the report said.
ZATCA urged the public to contribute to combating smuggling to protect society and the national economy.
It called on individuals to report smuggling activities through its security hotline, the international number, or via email.
Jordanian officials said on Wednesday the country had foiled two plots to smuggle millions of captagon pills through a border post near Saudi Arabia, in the biggest seizure in years of drugs smuggled by Iran-linked networks operating in southern Syria.
Officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration said they “foiled the smuggling of a huge quantity of drugs that was on its way to a neighboring country, and arrested members of two gangs linked to regional drug smuggling networks,” according to a report by ammonnews.
The Public Security Directorate that about 9.5 million narcotic pills and 143 kg of narcotic hashish were found while thwarting two smuggling operations. It also said they overthrow the members of the two gangs.
War-ravaged Syria has become the region’s main site for the mass production of the addictive, amphetamine-type stimulant known as captagon, with Jordan a key transit route to Gulf states, Western anti-narcotics officials say.
Jordanian officials, like their Western allies, say that Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group and pro-Iranian militias who control much of southern Syria are behind a surge in the multi-billion-dollar drugs and weapons trade. Iran and Hezbollah deny the allegations.
According to research published in the International Addiction Review Journal, it is assumed that users pay in the range of $10-$25 a pill.
According to sources, the Customs department has brought two interpreters from Vietnam to ensure proper interrogation of the 22 crew members in their language.
It may be noted here that Customs officials probing the seizure of cocaine worth over Rs 220 crore from the Denmark-bound cargo ship on December 1 were in a tizzy as the investigators found it tough to elicit vital international drug cartel links in the case because of the language barrier.
All the 22 crew members, who are all from Vietnam, have been detained and are being questioned to ascertain the source of the banned drug seized from the vessel. However, no significant progress could be made by the investigating officials as the crews now under Customs’ custody speak Vietnamese only.
They are not well-versed in any other language including English. That’s why the Customs officials have sought the services of interpreters, who could speak and understand the spoken language of the detained crew members, sources said.
All the crew members working onboard the ship are from Vietnam. The ship is registered in Panama and is operated by the Asia Pacific Shipping Co. Ltd. The suspected ship is having its last port of call from Gresik Port, Indonesia and destined to Denmark.
Acting on information that suspected narcotics drugs packets are concealed in Panama registered Ship, MV Debi berthed at Paradip International Cargo Terminal, Paradip that had arrived from Gresik port, Indonesia in ballast, Customs officers of Bhubaneswar Customs (preventive) Commissionerate searched the ship.
During the search, 22 packets (wrapped and affixed with magnet) were recovered from the cranes of the ship containing a hardened but brittle white substance suspected to be narcotic drugs.
Initial testing by the Special Intelligence and Investigation (SIIB) team of the Bhubaneswar Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate revealed that the substance is Cocaine, a narcotic drug under the NDPS Act 1985. A total of 22 kg of such drugs valued at around Rs. 220 crore in the international grey market was recovered.
This was stated to be the first case of seizure of cocaine or any other banned drug substances under NDPS Act in Paradip port.
