Police have arrested around 120 foreign nationals at a location on Meda Welikada Road in Rajagiriya on suspicion of running illegal financial operations and other unlawful activities, Ada Derana reported on Sunday.
Those taken into custody include individuals from seven countries — China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Madagascar, the Philippines, Thailand and Cambodia — pointing to a multinational operation rather than a single-nationality scam ring.
Officers also seized a quantity of computers and mobile phones recovered at the premises, items consistent with the digital tooling used in cross-border financial fraud and online scam centres.
The Rajagiriya raid comes one day after a separate police operation in Thalangama detained 37 Chinese nationals over an alleged online scam that had been running on three-month tourist visas, with desks, tablets, mobile phones and SIM cards recovered. The two raids together suggest a coordinated push by Sri Lanka Police against foreign-run cyber and financial crime cells operating out of suburban Colombo properties.
The latest action also coincides with broader island-wide anti-crime and anti-narcotics operations directed by the Inspector General of Police, which on Saturday alone resulted in 593 arrests after 27,042 individuals were checked.
Police have not yet disclosed the specific nature of the alleged financial activities at Meda Welikada Road, the visa status of those detained or which agencies will lead the investigation.
Update — May 4: All 120 foreign nationals arrested in the Rajagiriya raid have been remanded in custody, Ada Derana reported on Monday morning, the day after the operation. The remand order extends the detention pending further investigations and any formal charges in connection with the alleged illegal financial operations.
