A joint Special Task Force and Sri Lanka Army operation in Antonypuram, Jaffna has recovered 220 kilograms of Kerala cannabis with an estimated street value of around Rs. 36 million, Ada Derana reported on Sunday.
A total of 102 parcels were seized during the raid, which was conducted on intelligence information. The Sri Lankan Army said the stock was discovered hidden in the Antonypuram area, with further investigations to be carried out by Palaly Police.
Kerala cannabis is the trade term for ganja smuggled into Sri Lanka through the northern corridor from the Indian state of Kerala, typically routed across the Palk Strait. The 220kg recovered on Sunday makes it the largest reported northern-corridor cannabis seizure of the cycle and is consistent with a broader pattern of growing northern interdictions by the security forces.
The seizure is the latest in a sustained anti-narcotics drive. Earlier this year, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s office said the Rata Ekata operation, launched in October 2025, had produced more than 186,000 drug arrests and the seizure of nearly two tonnes of heroin, with the President saying political protection around the trade had been “broken” for the first time. The Public Administration Minister on Sunday separately warned that drug traffickers are now targeting children aged between 11 and 17 — remarks made at a District Coordinating Committee meeting in Pallama on the same day.
No arrests were reported in connection with the Antonypuram recovery at the time of reporting. The investigation will be led by Palaly Police.
