Battle against drugs on a new high
For the first time in recent years, a focused attempt to destabilise the narcotics procurement and distribution network is in motion with multiple agencies, including intelligence being involved. Namini Wijedasa reports
It was late Friday night when officers from the Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB)’s Kandy branch acting on a tip swooped down on two men riding a bicycle in Kirimetiyana, Wennappuwa. They had on them 2.232 kg of heroin.
In custody, the men turned informers and told police of a house in Kirimetiyana which revealed a stash of 13.405 kg of heroin. Four more arrests were made, including three for aiding and abetting.
Over the past few months, there have been multiple narcotics-related arrests and drug confiscations. But this was the first significant detection by the PNB after a major revamp which saw many of its officers replaced, including its Director and the Deputy Inspector General of Police.
The overhaul had become crucial after it was discovered that some members of the PNB were distributing drugs. Eighteen officers have so far been arrested. This was corruption at the very heart of the system. But it is not the only cog in the wheel.
For the first time in recent years, there is a focused attempt to destabilise the narcotics procurement and distribution network. The evidence is in the numbers of detections, quantities of drugs and arrests. Multiple agencies, including intelligence, are involved.
“Drugs are oxygen”
The authorities have studied the network and modus operandi. While there are still gaps, the first steps have been taken. Among them are efforts to stop confiscated drugs from entering the market. Sources used a simple theory of supply-and-demand to point to some success: while heroin could recently be bought in the market at Rs 8,000 a gram, the price has now risen up to Rs 12,000.
“The success of previous anti-narcotics drives was judged by recoveries,” a senior intelligence analyst said. “More the recoveries, the happier they were. Problem is the drugs were going back into the market.”
Narcotics are a key source of income for the underworld. For them to maintain supremacy, they establish rival groups, most of who are involved in drugs. They also carry out other crimes like contract killings and kidnapping for ransom.
“In the underworld, drugs are oxygen,” said the analyst. They have infiltrated the Government and private sector. This includes the police. “The whole prison system is dominated by drugs,” he added. “A majority of the 30,000 in remand are suspects in drug-related offences, either dealing or using. This is also lucrative for lawyers.”
The PNB sends drug samples to the Department of Government Analyst (GA) for testing of quality, etc. Investigations found colluders there, too. Three people were arrested. Two worked in the stores where the stashes are stored. The last was a clerk formerly of the GA’s Department. Police found a list of case numbers in his wallet. They think he was collaborating with a counterpart in the Department to tamper with evidence in favour of the suspects in those cases.
“We can’t tackle this through a single entity, although the core issue is drugs,” the intelligence analyst said. “It is more than a law-enforcement issue.”
The modus operandi
The producers and suppliers of the heroin that reaches Sri Lanka are in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The fastest, safest route is the sea.
The sellers contact Sri Lankan dealers, all of whom live abroad, mostly in Dubai. Some are in Pakistan, India and a fewer number in Italy. Interpol red notices were issued for eighteen of them. The death in July of Madduma Lasantha Chandana Perera alias Angoda Lokka reduced the list to 17.
The names are Mohamed Rafaideen Mohomad Irfan; Pothumulla Kankanamge Nalin Pujitha; Nallaperumathanthrige Danuka Roshan alias Keselwatte Danuka; Selvaraj Daneshan; Rajapaksha Arachchige Dinuka Madushan alias Keselwatte Dinuka; Surasinghe Arachchige Gihan Fonseka; Sinhara Amal Saminda de Silva alias Anju alias Kudu Anju; Ellawala Liyanage Dharmasiri Perera alias Patiya; and Gamage Suranga Pradeep alias Welle Suranga.
The others are Balachandran Pushparaj alias Pukudi Kanna; Dinamulla Kankanamlage Nalin Chathuranga alias Ladiya; Asanga Kumara Herath alias Latta alias Lat; Arisarathnam Suresh Raja alias Podi Suresh; Lal Peiris alias Kudu Lal; Sinniah Gunasekeran alias Kimbulaela
Guna; and Paranamanage Chaminda Rohana alias Kalu Sagara alias Manju.
Another, Stanley Kenadi Fernando has the most number of aliases: Bumma alias Raju alias Wijendra alias Stanley alias Kolimadi alias Rajendran alias Konadi alias Elilan.
“Dealers in Afghanistan or Pakistan will not do business with newcomers,” the analyst said. “For underworld figures to come to this level, it takes a long time. They know the operation and they know what to do. And certain countries are havens for drug dealers, as long as they don’t take narcotics there.”
The local counterparts of these middlemen include more than 40 Pakistanis in Sri Lankan prisons (including two senior drug dealers serving life sentences since 2011) and kingpins like Gampola Vidanage Samantha Kumara alias Wele Sudha. They have been handling the Sri Lanka leg of the operation for years.
Wele Sudha figures prominently. In 2015, he was arrested in Karachi by Sri Lankan law enforcement and brought to Sri Lanka. He is now serving a life sentence. He turned prison into an operational base to continue to drugs trade, using phones and satellite phones.
“It’s all about money,” the analyst pointed out.
Like a cancer
But the Government has decided to take this on. Law enforcement combined with intelligence to identify the “centre of gravity” and the method of operating. The drug route was studied along with collaboration among counterparts.
“Finally, we explored how best we can disrupt or prevent drug lords from operating from Dubai and from prison,” he said. A number of requests for cooperation made to Dubai went unheeded.
Prison, they found, was “like a cancer”. Wele Sudha had a comprehensive network which included political, legal, underworld and foreign backers. Communication was vital to them. The Pakistanis coordinated throughout the region by keeping in touch with drug suppliers. Multiple phones were used for multiple contacts.
The drugs are transported mostly via Iranian trawlers. But sometimes, there is skullduggery. After the dealer in Dubai informs the dealer in prison of an incoming haul, the prison dealer tips off certain law enforcement officials about the ship’s coordinates. The trawler is then intercepted with Navy assistance and detained, the Iranian crew is sent to prison and the “transport fee” is saved. And, once the drugs are in PNB custody, the same corrupt process takes over.
“But we don’t know exactly who benefits from this,” said the intelligence analyst. “Every case is unique. And in these deals, there are no permanent friends, only permanent interests.”
Other times, there are mid-sea transfers of the drugs to smaller boats. Or the trawler lands on shore with the whole stash. The process is difficult to derail although there is an ongoing project to fit GPRS on boats.
Distribution to local level is from various channels, clearly evidenced by the type of people arrested. Many in the past few months have been women because, “That’s a common strategy, in the belief the law enforcement will be reluctant to suspect or arrest women”.
Sweeping changes
Prison security and surveillance has been strengthened. The two main Pakistani dealers were shifted from Welikada prison to isolation in Angunukolapelessa. The locals are in isolation at Boosa where telephone signals are jammed (this failed in Welikada as it was too congested).
Intelligence in prisons has been strengthened. Five jails where the drug network is deemed strongest now have scanners. They are Negombo, Anuradhapura, Boosa, Angunukolapelessa and Welikada. The Special Task Force has been assigned the Angunukolapelessa, Boosa and Welikada. And searching everywhere, even of prison workers, is stringent.
As many prisoners re-establish contact with counterparts when they visit Colombo for court dates, plans are being made to conduct hearings via Skype. While cases could earlier be heard in Boosa, there is opposition to recommencing that.
On the legal side, assets laws have to be improved to seize properties. And legislation must be introduced with stringent punishment for ‘ice’ or crystal methamphetamine. “It’s all over now and it draws in the youth,” the analyst said. “You can give a life sentence for more than three grams of heroin but not for ice. You can’t tackle modern drugs with old laws.”
Ice is usually smuggled in from the West, including South America. It is high value and enters through the harbour, airport, even courier services. We don’t have sufficient laws to controls synthetic drugs whereas there is a life sentence for heroin of more than three grams. Ice goes under other drugs. “You can’t tackle modern drugs with old laws”.
Things also have to be speeded up. For instance, it takes three to six months to get a report from the Government Analyst. Meanwhile, there is a proposal for drugs to be destroyed at the point of detection with only a sample taken for testing.
A strong intelligence network is being developed with countries in the region. A monitoring mechanism to intercept trawlers is on the cards. There is focus on a naval cordon as well as bolstering the law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Arrest, detection, interrogation, recovery and follow-up are all part of the process.
With the number of arrests rising, there are expected to be more cases as those inside provide information that leading to further detection.
“But it’s complex and complicated,” the intelligence analyst said. “It’s not easy. We have to deal with the most notorious people, underworld elements and drug addicts. They don’t care about laws.”
“The politician, underworld, drug dealer, police, they all want money,” he reflected. “You can’t fulfil their interests and curb the drug menace. You either handle this holistically or allow things to go on the way they do.”
In the underworld, drugs are oxygen. They have infiltrated the Government and private sector. This includes the police. The whole prison system is dominated by drugs. A majority of the 30,000 in remand are suspects in drug-related offences, either dealing or using. This is also lucrative for lawyers.”