Two suspects have been arrested in Negombo with over a kilogramme of hashish, crystal methamphetamine and heroin after officers from the Negombo Divisional Crime Investigation Bureau (DCIB) raided a trafficking network that police say used online money transfers to move proceeds, Ada Derana reported.
The raid was conducted on Sunday in the Kattuwa area of the Negombo Police Division based on intelligence about a drug operation routing payments through digital channels rather than cash hand-offs. Officers seized 1 kilogramme and 34 grammes of hashish, 7 grammes and 420 milligrammes of crystal methamphetamine known as “Ice,” and 8 grammes and 860 milligrammes of heroin from the suspects.
Police also recovered Rs. 351,200 in cash they believe were proceeds from drug sales, along with two cars suspected of being used in the trafficking. The two suspects, aged 29 and 31, are residents of Mount Lavinia and Udugampola respectively. They were handed over to the Negombo Police Station for further investigation.
The online money-transfer angle marks a relatively new operational pattern for police anti-narcotics units, which have so far been focused on cash-based courier networks targeted under the cabinet’s ongoing A Nation United islandwide narcotics drive that has reported more than 10 tonnes of drugs seized since October 2025. The Negombo arrests add a digital-payments dimension to the enforcement effort and may prompt closer follow-up with the country’s banking and remittance regulators that have separately tightened controls on online transfers under the new June 19 import-payment gazette.
