Sri Lanka Police have moved over the past three years to confiscate assets worth about Rs. 3,878 million that they allege were built up through organised crime, Police Media Spokesperson Assistant Superintendent of Police F.U. Wootler said on Tuesday.
The figures were given at a special media briefing in Colombo on the repatriation of the organised crime suspect Lalith Kannangara, known as “Bus Lalith”, who was flown in from Dubai early on Tuesday. NewsFirst, Ada Derana and the Daily Mirror all reported the asset figures.
What has been taken, and when
Police set out the programme year by year. In 2024, legal steps were begun to bring Rs. 1,549 million in assets into State ownership — a total the Daily Mirror reported as having been fully vested in the State. A further Rs. 1,549 million was processed in 2025, and preliminary steps have been taken against another Rs. 839 million in the months elapsed so far in 2026.
The holdings include gold jewellery, cash, motor vehicles, luxury residences and land that police allege were bought with the proceeds of crime, NewsFirst reported. Ada Derana reported that the assets are to be frozen and then forfeited to the State, subject to the outcome of proceedings in the High Court — meaning the headline figure describes property targeted by legal action, not money already recovered.
The three annual figures do not reconcile with the total. Rs. 1,549 million, Rs. 1,549 million and Rs. 839 million add up to Rs. 3,937 million, Rs. 59 million more than the Rs. 3,878 million police gave as the three-year total. All three newsrooms carried the same breakdown, including the identical figure for 2024 and 2025, so the discrepancy appears in the police briefing rather than in any one outlet’s reporting. Police did not explain the gap.
109 more suspects sought under Red Notices
ASP Wootler said police have brought back 42 suspects subject to Interpol Red Notices since 2024, and that arrangements are under way to repatriate a further 109. A separate 38 suspects who were not the subject of Red Notices have also been returned, with more expected in the coming days.
The Illegal Assets Investigation Division — referred to by the Daily Mirror as the Illegal Assets Investigation Unit — has opened a separate inquiry into Kannangara’s own holdings. The same division was reported in August to be examining property linked to 25 organised crime and drug figures, among them the alleged trafficker Shiran Basik, who was returned from Dubai on August 14. Assets belonging to a suspect known as “Thotalanga Poddi” were frozen earlier in the month.
Police did not name the individuals whose assets make up the Rs. 3,878 million, break the total down by case, or say how much of the property vested in 2024 has since been converted to State use.
