The government plans to buy special scanners for Sri Lanka’s ports to detect narcotics concealed inside shipping containers, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala has said, as traffickers turn increasingly to cargo consignments to move drugs into the country. He was speaking to the Sunday Times, in a report by Ishu Bandara published on Sunday.

“We are planning to introduce scanners very soon to detect drugs hidden inside shipping containers,” the Minister said. “The Government is determined to take every possible step to stop drug trafficking and protect our country from this threat.”

Why containers

The container route is not hypothetical. In August, a large consignment of crystal methamphetamine — “Ice” — was found inside a container at Colombo Port, concealed in a shipment of bath towels. That seizure later produced a criminal investigation ordered by the Inspector General of Police into how the consignment was handled.

Mr. Wijepala said containers are not the only channel. Traffickers are also using courier services and the Central Mail Exchange.

“We have to look at all the ways drugs are brought into the country. We are working with the relevant institutions to strengthen checks and take wider action against those involved in drug trafficking,” he said.

Rehabilitation to expand to all 25 districts

The Minister said the government is working to extend rehabilitation facilities across all 25 districts. Buildings have already been identified for centres at Kurunegala, Akuressa, Ampara, Mihintale, Valachchenai, Kalpitiya and Ahangama, and a dedicated centre for children is planned at Handessa, Kandy.

“Our fight against drugs is not only about arresting traffickers and seizing drugs. We must also help people overcome addiction and protect our children and young people from falling into this danger,” he said.

A website is also planned to publish information about the programme and its activities.

The anniversary, and what it dates

The announcements come as the government prepares to mark the first anniversary of “Ratama Ekata”, its national anti-drug programme, which the Sunday Times dates to a launch on 30 October 2025 under the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs.

That date is worth recording, because it settles a question this desk flagged earlier the same day. Speaking at Nikaweratiya on Sunday, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake set out drug seizure figures — 3,511 kg of heroin, 6,206 kg of ICE and 308 kg of cocaine — for “the past two years”, and attributed the programme to Mr. Wijepala’s leadership. Hiru News, which carried that account, did not date the programme.

If Ratama Ekata began on 30 October 2025, it is about to complete its first year, not its second. The two-year seizure totals therefore cannot all be programme figures; they span a period roughly matching the government’s term, which began a year earlier. The two statements are not in conflict, but they measure different things, and only one of them is a measure of the programme.

This newsroom’s own earlier reporting supports the October 2025 date independently: police figures published at the end of July 2026 described 239,384 drug arrests in “nine months” under Ratama Ekata, which counts back to the end of October 2025.

Not reported

The Minister gives no procurement timeline beyond “very soon”, no cost, no funding source, and no indication of how many scanners would be bought, what type they would be, or which ports would get them first. It is not stated whether these would be the first such scanners in Sri Lankan ports or additions to existing capacity, nor whether Sri Lanka Customs, the Ports Authority or the police would operate them.

Nothing is reported about when the identified rehabilitation buildings will open, what they will cost, how many places they will provide, or how the remaining districts will be covered. No date is given for the website, and no event has been announced for the programme’s anniversary on 30 October.