The Illegal Assets Investigation Division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has imposed restrictions on properties valued at over Rs. 40 million, said to have been acquired through a drug trafficking network linked to a major narcotics operator known as “Panadura Kudu Salindu”.
The targeted assets belong to a Dubai-based associate identified only as “Asitha”, described by police as a close confidant of Salindu Malshitha Gunaratne, alias “Panadura Kudu Salindu”. The restrictions cover a two-storey house under construction in Madupitiya, Panadura, valued at over Rs. 25 million; a separate house and land plot in Panadura worth around Rs. 7 million; and a 10.7-perch parcel of land in Alubomulla West, Panadura, valued at close to Rs. 10 million.
The latest action follows an earlier raid on 13 March at a Madupitiya house, conducted under a search warrant from the Panadura Magistrate’s Court. Officers recovered 13 sovereigns of gold and almost Rs. 1 million in cash during that operation. Subsequent investigations identified additional properties tied to the network, leading to the current freeze.
The Illegal Assets Investigation Division operates under the Convention on Suppression of Terrorist Financing Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, with the power to restrict transfer or sale of property pending judicial confirmation. The Rs. 40 million action is among the larger asset freezes ordered against the Panadura networks this year and follows similar restraint orders in earlier cycles of the broader Rata Ekata anti-narcotics drive.
Sri Lanka has stepped up financial-crime probes alongside drug seizures since the launch of the operation in late 2025, treating asset disruption as a complement to interdiction. Investigators have signalled that further action is likely against other figures connected to the same network.
