A suspected major drug trafficker identified as Shiran Basik has been arrested in Dubai by Dubai security forces, according to Sri Lankan police sources cited by Ada Derana.
Reports indicate that Basik has alleged links to an Iranian drug trafficking network and is also wanted by the United States. Authorities said he had been living in Dubai while posing as a wealthy businessman, and that he is believed to be one of five major traffickers involved in supplying narcotics to Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan authorities said they had not yet received official confirmation of the arrest. The reported Iranian-network and US-wanted dimensions distinguish the case from most domestic trafficking investigations, adding an international law-enforcement angle.
A week after the initial reports, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala publicly confirmed on 1 June that no official notification of the arrest had been received from the United Arab Emirates, despite information circulating on social media. The Minister said unofficial intelligence had reached Colombo and that the Criminal Investigation Department was monitoring developments closely. Red and blue Interpol notices had been issued, he said, and investigations through Interpol would continue.
The arrest is the second involving a Sri Lankan organised-crime suspect in Dubai reported on the same day, after Dubai Police separately detained an alleged trafficker known as “Alto Dharme” along with his family.
Dubai has become a recurring focus of Sri Lankan organised-crime investigations. Authorities recently confirmed the deportation of 21 suspects from Dubai who were subject to Interpol Red Notices, part of a wider crackdown on fugitives who fled overseas. Sri Lankan police have increasingly relied on Interpol and Gulf-state cooperation to trace suspects accused of running narcotics operations from abroad.
