More than 50,000 criminals were arrested and narcotics worth millions of rupees were seized during a massive 50-day-long operation to fight the illicit drug trade in Sri Lanka, according to an official report.
The operation ‘Yukthiya’ (meaning justice in Sinhala) was launched on December 17 with a deadline of June 30 to put an end to the drug menace plaguing the Island nation.
“It’s been 50 days since the Yukthiya operation was launched. A total of 56,541 criminals throughout the island were arrested. Of them, 49,558 were drug abuse arrests while 6,958 more were those in the crime suspect lists,” the release from the Ministry of Public Security said.
An investigation into the ownership of illegal assets has been initiated for 234 of the arrested suspects. Additionally, 3,083 individuals listed by the Police Narcotics Bureau and Police Special Bureau have also been taken into custody, the report revealed.