Police have arrested two suspects with the narcotic “Ice” (crystal methamphetamine) in separate operations in the Western Province and Trincomalee, with one of the men linked to a recent shooting and firearm intimidation, authorities said.
Officers of the Western Province Southern District Crime Division arrested a 25-year-old in the Delkanda area of the Mirihana Police Division on July 26, recovering 7.2 grams of Ice. Police allege the suspect, a resident of Attidiya, acted as the motorcyclist in an attempted shooting at the Nisala Arana public cemetery in Dehiwala on July 19, in which a security guard was seriously wounded by two men on a motorcycle. He is also accused of an assault and intimidation at gunpoint in the Mount Lavinia Police Division.
Investigators say the crimes were allegedly carried out on the instructions of an organised criminal gang operating from overseas. Police recovered three mobile phones believed used in the offences and Rs. 55,000 — part of an alleged Rs. 200,000 payment made to the suspect to carry out the attacks.
In a separate operation, the Trincomalee sub-unit of the Police Narcotics Bureau arrested a 38-year-old resident of Trincomalee in the Uppuveli Police Division on the same day, seizing 123.3 grams of Ice following a raid based on information received.
Further investigations into both cases are continuing, conducted by the Western Province Southern District Crime Division and Uppuveli Police respectively. The arrests come amid a sustained police crackdown on the narcotics trade and its links to contract violence orchestrated by overseas-based crime networks.
