-By LeN Colombo Crime Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -05.May.2025, 11.00 PM) In a sweeping cross-border crackdown on organized crime, Sri Lankan authorities have revealed plans to repatriate 20 more high-profile criminal figures currently hiding abroad, signalling a new chapter in the country's fight against its burgeoning underworld networks. The move follows a string of successful international operations conducted over the past seven months that saw 11 notorious figures forcibly returned to Sri Lankan soil.
Speaking to The Times from Colombo, Police Media Spokesman and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Buddhika Manatunga, (LLB) confirmed that Sri Lanka is intensifying cooperation with Interpol and foreign law enforcement agencies to dismantle the global web of criminal syndicates linked to its own domestic crime surge.
“This is a clear signal that impunity no longer exists,” SSP Thalduwa stated. “With the support of Interpol and legal coordination from several host countries, we have already managed to bring back 11 suspects who have long evaded justice. We now have clear leads on 20 more.”
The list of wanted individuals reads like a rogues’ gallery of Sri Lanka’s most elusive criminal masterminds—those implicated in contract killings, extortion rackets, narcotics trafficking, and underworld turf wars that have gripped major cities like Colombo, Negombo, and Kandy.
While some have assumed new identities in safe havens as distant as Dubai, Malaysia, and Australia, others continue to command operations back home through encrypted messaging platforms, corrupt conduits, and a network of loyal foot soldiers.
“The diaspora-based crime syndicates are not just a threat to Sri Lanka,” said a senior official at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), speaking on condition of anonymity. “They are engaged in transnational money laundering, cybercrime, and drug trafficking. Many of them use Sri Lanka as a launchpad and safe house, exploiting weak institutional checks and political patronage.”
The recent repatriations, part of an ongoing operation codenamed Iron Fist, have involved months of painstaking surveillance, legal coordination, and high-level diplomacy. Among the 11 already returned are individuals with alleged links to the underworld kingpin "Kanjipani Imran" and other notorious figures who once operated freely within Colombo’s criminal underbelly.
In several instances, arrests were made in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates and India, where some of the suspects had been living in apparent luxury under forged identities.
One dramatic arrest in early March, according to police sources, involved a midnight raid on an apartment in Dubai’s Dira district, where a Sri Lankan national—accused of orchestrating a spate of contract killings in Negombo—was apprehended just days before he planned to flee to Europe.
“These operations are complex and require legal finesse,” said a senior official at the Attorney General’s Department. “You’re not just chasing a man. You’re navigating extradition laws, immigration loopholes, and bilateral diplomatic sensitivities.”
For years, the persistence of organized crime in Sri Lanka has been aided—some argue, enabled—by political complicity and institutional decay. Several of the suspects currently on the repatriation list have alleged ties to politicians and local government officials, many of whom have used criminal muscle during elections or in business disputes.
A recent leaked report from the Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) highlighted how two former mayors in the Western Province had allegedly provided safe passage and forged documents to underworld operatives in exchange for bribes and electoral support.
“This is not just a policing issue. It’s a governance issue,” says Milawintharchi , a criminologist at the Sri Lankan Police. “If Sri Lanka wants to truly break the back of organized crime, it must look within: at its corrupt politicians, compromised police officers, and lax financial regulatory systems.”
The growing Sri Lankan criminal diaspora has begun to alarm foreign governments as well. In 2024, Malaysian authorities expressed concern about rising Sri Lankan gang activity in Kuala Lumpur, with several recent shootings traced back to turf disputes originating in Negombo.
Similarly, Australian authorities have flagged the emergence of Sri Lankan-run methamphetamine smuggling rings operating through Darwin and Perth, with links to Colombo’s coastal trafficking routes.
An internal report from the Australian Federal Police warned: “Sri Lankan transnational crime groups have become increasingly agile, digitally savvy, and willing to use violence to protect their interests. They must be treated as a serious organized threat, not as isolated diaspora actors.”
One of the biggest challenges facing Sri Lankan law enforcement is the technological sophistication of these international crime syndicates. Many have moved their financial operations to cryptocurrency platforms and use end-to-end encrypted apps like Telegram and Signal to coordinate activities.
“The average CID officer still struggles with tracing IP addresses, let alone decrypting messages,” one cybercrime analyst told The Times. “We’re dealing with 21st-century criminals using 20th-century tools.”
To counter this, the Ministry of Public Security has begun working with foreign cybercrime units to train Sri Lankan officers and introduce real-time monitoring of financial transactions, particularly involving hawala networks and offshore accounts.
Still, public confidence in the effort remains low, with critics pointing to the government’s poor track record of following through on major investigations. The 2018 arrest of drug lord "Makandure Madush"—widely hailed as a landmark success—ultimately ended in controversy after he was mysteriously killed in police custody under what many believe were suspicious circumstances.
“People are tired of seeing headlines about arrests that lead nowhere,” says Nirosha Perera, a lawyer and activist. “Unless the government shows political will to prosecute these individuals, and to cut the political ties that protect them, this is all just smoke and mirrors.”
Nevertheless, the move to repatriate 20 more criminal fugitives could mark a turning point—if the momentum is sustained. Analysts say it reflects growing pressure on the government, both internally and externally, to clean up the country’s tarnished law enforcement image and clamp down on international criminal networks.
There are also geopolitical undercurrents. With growing Chinese investment and Indian diplomatic presence in Sri Lanka, there is a renewed interest from regional powers in ensuring the island does not become a staging ground for transnational crime or political instability.
“Criminal networks thrive in weak states,” says retired DIG de Silva. “If Sri Lanka can’t prove that it has control over its own soil and citizens, the international community will start taking matters into their own hands.”
Back in Colombo, the CID is busy preparing fresh dossiers and working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send formal extradition requests. It is understood that at least five countries have already responded positively to preliminary inquiries.
Meanwhile, rumours swirl about who might be next. Several media outlets have reported that a former underworld operative-turned-politician is under surveillance in a South Asian country, and may be on the next list of deportees.
“If even half of these 20 are brought back,” said one CID officer, “we’ll not only have dented the criminal empire—they’ll know they’re no longer safe, anywhere.”
For now, Sri Lanka waits. Not just for the planes to land, but for justice to take flight.
-By LeN Colombo Crime Correspondent
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by (2025-05-05 18:32:02)
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