Deputy Minister of Defence Major General Aruna Jayasekara (Retd) has reviewed the Sri Lanka Navy’s maritime security operations, including its efforts to disrupt drug trafficking at sea, during an official visit to Navy Headquarters at the Defence Headquarters Complex in Battaramulla.
The Navy’s own account dates the visit to August 18. Ada Derana, which reported it on August 19 citing a Ministry of Defence statement, did not give a date.
Jayasekara was received by the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Damian Fernando, and was briefed by the Commander and senior officers on the Navy’s ongoing operational activities and the measures being taken to counter emerging threats across the country’s maritime domain.
Focus on drug routes
The briefing placed particular weight on the Navy’s role in securing the waters around the island and on the tactical and strategic methods being used to detect, intercept and dismantle networks that move narcotics through maritime routes.
Officers also set out the scale of the Navy’s continuous operational presence, with personnel and resources deployed to monitor sea areas, respond to security threats and protect national interests.
Addressing senior officers on behalf of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Jayasekara commended the Navy for its operational commitment, singling out its record against drug trafficking at sea. The Chief of Staff of the Navy and other senior officers attended.
Context
Maritime interdiction has become a prominent strand of the government’s counter-narcotics effort, alongside the pursuit of organised crime figures overseas. Jayasekara said this month that fugitive suspect Kanjipani Imran would be brought back to Sri Lanka soon, and police have since opened asset investigations into 25 organised crime and drug figures.
The visit came while the Navy was still searching for a sailor missing since a fast attack craft accident off Angulana on August 15, in which eleven crew were rescued. The search was continuing at the time of the visit.
