Sri Lanka’s nationwide anti-drug meetings are sparking more suspicion than trust, with political arrests, questionable spending, and hidden agendas casting doubt on the government’s crackdown on narcotics.
At a media briefing, Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader and lawyer Udaya Gammanpila claimed the series of anti-drug meetings being held across the country serve as a smokescreen. He said the President and other top government officials launched the campaign with a large-scale event at Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, where they boldly declared that major drug traffickers accused of wasting public funds, would soon abandon their operations. This was portrayed as a milestone in the government’s anti-drug initiative. But President’s Counsel Tirantha Walaliyedda, who attended the event, later went on television and said the entire gathering was a waste of money, adding that drugs can’t be eradicated through speeches and showpiece events.
Gammanpila argued that real drug control requires empowering intelligence agencies and breaking down trafficking networks. There also needs to be a serious and accessible rehabilitation system for users once the supply chain is disrupted. Without that, he said, it’s naïve to believe that traffickers making millions will simply give up their trade because officials hold press conferences.
He pointed to recent incidents as proof. Since the President’s statements, how many politicians linked to the ruling alliance—known as the “compass”—have been arrested for drug trafficking? He listed arrests from Peliyagoda, Anuradhapura, Dehiwala, Ratmalana, Dickwella, and Galle involving compass-aligned politicians. So many have been caught, Gammanpila said, that the Inspector General of Police had to issue a circular instructing officers not to share such arrests with the media. That, he claimed, proves that even drug dealers connected to the ruling coalition ignore the President’s warnings.
Gammanpila recalled past successes. In 2012, under Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s tenure as Defense Secretary, and in 2023, under Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, the country witnessed real progress in anti-drug efforts. He noted that back then, the compass ridiculed school bag checks. But now, school principals are being exposed as traffickers, and even the President has acknowledged that parents are using schoolchildren to move drugs through schools.
He warned that the upcoming “Ratam Ekata” series of meetings starting November 20 in Tangalle, won’t do anything to curb trafficking. If the President knows meetings can’t solve the issue, Gammanpila asked, why hold them? The answer, he alleged, is corruption: the events are another way for compass-linked vendors to make money off government-funded festivities.
He added that the timing is suspicious. Following a disappointing turnout for the recent Heroes’ Day celebrations, the real aim of the Tangalle meeting, he claimed, is to mobilize fishermen from across the country to create the illusion of public support ahead of the opposition-led Nugegoda rally on the 21st.
