Sri Lanka Police say Interpol Red Notices have been issued for 93 suspects believed to be hiding overseas in connection with crimes committed in Sri Lanka.
Police Media Spokesperson, Assistant Superintendent of Police F.U. Wootler, announced the figure at a special press conference in Colombo on Thursday held to brief the public on the progress of the “Ratama Ekata” national operation and the contribution of the armed forces and police to it.
Wootler said 38 suspects had been repatriated to Sri Lanka through Interpol Red Notices across 2024, 2025 and the period elapsed so far this year. A further 35 prominent criminals had been brought back through the direct intervention of the Inspector General of Police, bringing the total returned to 73.
Assets frozen
A separate programme is under way to confiscate property allegedly acquired through criminal activity by suspects returned to the country, including vehicles, houses, gold and land.
As an initial step towards transferring such assets to the state, action was taken to freeze property worth Rs. 1.49 billion in 2024 and Rs. 1.549 billion in 2025, Wootler said. Since 1 January this year, initial legal proceedings have been commenced to take into state custody illegally acquired assets worth a further Rs. 839 million.
Drug seizures
Hiru News reported that the spokesperson also gave figures for narcotics taken into police custody between 30 October 2025 and Wednesday: 2,259kg 129g of heroin, 2,653kg 545g of crystal methamphetamine, known locally as Ice, and 293kg 755g of cocaine.
“Ratama Ekata” — roughly, “the whole country together” — is the national anti-crime and anti-narcotics operation launched last year. It has produced a steady run of enforcement figures through 2026, including 706 arrests in a single sweep, 508 arrested in one day and 461 arrested in island-wide operations earlier this month.
