President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said 1,874 people under the age of 18 were arrested in connection with crystal methamphetamine — known locally as ‘Ice’ — by 2025, against a single such arrest recorded in 2022.
He gave the figures on Thursday while addressing a religious summit at Temple Trees, the Daily Mirror reported.
The age bands
The President set out a wider breakdown of drug-related arrests alongside that figure:
- 11,737 young people over the age of 21
- 10,889 aged between 18 and 21
- 1,068 children aged between 14 and 18
- 13 children aged between five and 14
More than 200 girls had also been arrested in connection with drug-related activities, he said.
The two sets of numbers are not reconciled in the filing, and this desk does not add them together. The bands below 18 come to 1,081, which is not the 1,874 given for under-18 Ice arrests. The first figure is described as cumulative Ice-related arrests by 2025; the breakdown carries no stated period and is not limited to any one drug.
Where he put the responsibility
Dissanayake warned that narcotics were destroying the younger generation and threatening the country’s future, and placed much of the emphasis on households rather than enforcement.
Parents, he said, were usually the first to notice changes in a child’s behaviour and were better placed than anyone to judge whether a child was drifting into drug use or criminal activity. The government is developing a programme through the Ministry of Education to teach parents what those warning signs look like.
He also asked religious leaders to support families in difficulty, noting that parents frequently approach them before going to the police. The government has run 259,000 community awareness programmes on drug prevention with the Health Department and other institutions, he said, and would continue expanding rehabilitation and support services.
One speech, two stories
The same address produced a separate and more immediately consequential announcement: the President signalled three amendments to the Prevention of Organised Crimes Bill, including cutting the proposed police detention period from 72 hours to 48. The event marked one year of the “Ratama Ekata” national operation against drugs and crime. Earlier the same day, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala led an anti-drug awareness walk from Galle Face Green marking the same anniversary, NewsFirst reported — a separate event at which no arrest statistics were given.
Not reported
No other verified newsroom reachable by this desk carried the President’s figures. The filing does not say what period the age-banded arrests cover, whether they relate to the “Ratama Ekata” operation specifically, how many of those arrested were prosecuted or referred to rehabilitation, or what the 2022 comparison baseline counted. Earlier government statements on the operation have used different counting bases, and those figures are not comparable with these.
