Police have recovered a vehicle modified to look like a police jeep, allegedly used by an organised crime network in an attempt to murder a police informant who had helped bring about a major narcotics seizure, Hiru News reported.
The Walana Central Anti-Corruption Unit found the vehicle on 8 September, hidden inside a garage on Rajasinghe Mawatha, Hewagama, Kaduwela. It has been handed to the Kirinda Police for further investigation.
The attack
Suspects travelling in the fake police jeep deliberately ran the informant down at about 6:00 a.m. on 5 September, as he travelled towards Kirinda harbour, according to police. He was severely injured and is being treated in hospital under police protection.
The attempted murder investigation is being conducted jointly by the Kirinda Police and the Tangalle Division Crime Investigation Bureau.
Police said the syndicate had originally intended to abduct the informant from his home, kill him, and leave his severed head outside the residence of the Director of the Walana Anti-Corruption Unit. That plan was not carried out; the attack came nine months later, using the modified vehicle.
What the informant had helped seize
The victim had acted as an informant in an operation on 29 November 2025 in the Kirinda coastal area, which produced:
- 325 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, or ‘Ice’
- A stated street value of over Rs. 500 crore — about Rs. 5 billion
- Eight arrests
- Six vehicles impounded
Hiru reports that investigators found the consignment had been despatched to Sri Lanka by a trafficker known as “Angoda Priyankara” and an overseas-based trafficker known as “Reuben”.
The same two names appear in the Colombo Port case
Those names have surfaced before in this desk’s coverage, under slightly different spellings. When police launched an investigation into an international trafficking network behind the 463–472kg Ice consignment found at the Colombo Port in August, Ada Derana reported that two figures known as “Angoda Priyantha” and “Ruben” were suspected of involvement, alongside a trafficker called “Paravi Suda” believed to be in Pakistan.
If they are the same individuals — the transliterations differ and no outlet has linked the two cases — the same network is under suspicion in two of the largest Ice seizures reported in Sri Lanka within ten months. No charges against any of the three have been reported in either case, and none has been shown to have been arrested.
Who ran the operation
The raid followed intelligence received by Assistant Superintendent of Police Rohan Olugala, Director of the Walana Central Anti-Corruption Unit. A special investigation team led by Chief Inspector Indika Weerasinghe and Inspector Chathuranga carried it out.
Not reported
Hiru does not say whether anyone has been arrested over the 5 September attack, whether the garage owner is under investigation, how the vehicle was modified, or what became of the eight people arrested in November. No other newsroom had filed on the recovery; Ada Derana was blocked domain-wide while this was written.
