Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya has warned that Sri Lanka risks sliding into a lawless society unless decisive action is taken against drug trafficking and organised crime.
He was speaking in Ampara, at the opening of the official residence of the Officer-in-Charge of the Maha Oya Police Station, NewsFirst reported.
Drugs and crime as one problem
The IGP argued that the fight against narcotics cannot be separated from the fight against crime, because the two have become inseparably linked. People addicted to drugs frequently turn to theft and other offences to fund their addiction, he said, while organised criminal groups profit from importing and distributing illicit substances.
He described the country’s drug problem as among the most pressing threats to public safety.
The legislative argument
Weerasooriya said organised crime has reached a stage where strong legal measures are essential. Referring to the proposed Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill, he said such legislation was introduced in response to requests from law enforcement authorities, and would supply the legal framework needed against increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.
That places the police chief publicly behind a Bill currently before the Supreme Court, where 26 petitions challenge its constitutionality and the government has already signalled three amendments, including cutting the police detention period from 72 hours to 48.
In a pointed comparison, he cautioned that without robust laws and effective enforcement Sri Lanka could move closer to conditions seen in countries that have long struggled with powerful criminal syndicates and drug cartels, naming Venezuela, Chile and Mexico. Internationally accepted legal mechanisms must be adopted and implemented, he said, or the country risks a society where criminality flourishes and the rule of law steadily erodes.
A warning turned inward
The IGP also addressed his own service. Misconduct or negligence by individual officers can undermine wider efforts against crime and narcotics and damage the reputation of the entire police force, he said, stressing that police officers are not governed by a separate set of rules and remain subject to the same laws as every citizen.
Sourcing note
This desk found no other verified newsroom carrying the Maha Oya remarks. Searches across Ada Derana, the Daily Mirror, Hiru, news.lk, Island and Daily FT returned only earlier, unrelated statements by the same officer — including his identification of organised crime, narcotics and traffic discipline as the police force’s three main challenges, and an earlier count of 58 organised crime gangs and 1,400 associates. Those are separate occasions and are not cited here. The article is single-source by necessity, not by choice.
