-By LeN Crime Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -15.June.2025, 10.40 PM) In a sweeping crackdown that signals a bold new front in Sri Lanka’s war on organised crime, narcotics trafficking, and financial corruption, police—acting on court orders—have frozen assets belonging to 88 individuals alleged to be high-ranking figures in the country’s underworld.
These men are not mere street enforcers or petty criminals. They are the masterminds behind sprawling criminal enterprises — lords of the underworld who have laundered billions of rupees through shell companies, drug smuggling networks, illegal arms deals, and financial scams that have bled the country’s economy for decades.
The scale of the operation is staggering: more than Rs. 7.5 billion in assets have been frozen, with property, luxury vehicles, bank accounts, and even gold bars among the haul. At the top of the list stands one name that has long haunted the corridors of Sri Lankan law enforcement: Dematagoda Ruwan.
Once a name whispered in fear across Colombo’s slums and suburbs, Dematagoda Ruwan has risen—some would say festered—into mythic notoriety. Thought to be the central figure behind one of the island’s largest drug and extortion cartels, his wealth has been as invisible as it has been intoxicating.
Until now.
According to law enforcement documents, Dematagoda Ruwan’s personal empire spans:
Five bank accounts holding over Rs. 90 million
Two land parcels valued at Rs. 380 million
Ten luxury vehicles, worth Rs. 200 million
Half a kilogram of gold jewellery, valued at over Rs. 20 million
Two residential properties worth more than Rs. 40 million
Pawned assets (including bearer bonds) worth Rs. 15 million
In total, his frozen assets now exceed Rs. 750 million—the largest single seizure in Sri Lankan criminal history.
A senior CID officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, remarked: “He operated like a corporate CEO. But his boardroom was the back alleys, and his shareholders were drug runners, debt collectors, and mercenaries.”
While Dematagoda Ruwan’s downfall has garnered headlines, he is merely the most infamous of the 88 whose wealth has now been immobilised. The police have targeted a rogues’ gallery of kingpins and mid-tier operatives involved in drug trafficking rings, extortion rackets, organised theft syndicates, contract killings, human smuggling, and online financial scams.
The assets frozen under the order of various magistrate courts include:
Dozens of urban and rural plots of land purchased with laundered money
Mansions and high-rise apartments across the Western Province
Showrooms and logistics companies used as fronts for drug transport
Boats and fishing trawlers implicated in heroin smuggling operations
Pawned jewellery acquired through intimidation or bribery
Over 200 bank accounts flagged for suspicious transactions
Many of these underworld figures, long believed to operate with near-total impunity, are now being exposed to the harsh light of legal scrutiny — their secret lives and opulent tastes meticulously traced by new forensic accounting teams embedded within the Sri Lankan Police Financial Crimes Division.
The timing of this financial blitz is no coincidence. Following the formation of the National People's Power (NPP) administration under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, one of the first priorities was to dismantle the financial foundations of Sri Lanka’s parallel underworld economy.
“We are not just arresting criminals — we are drying up the reservoirs of their power,” said a senior presidential advisor. “For too long, they thrived while the public suffered. That ends now.”
According to the Ministry of Public Security, the asset freeze strategy is part of a broader legislative framework that now allows courts to swiftly immobilise suspected proceeds of crime—even before criminal convictions are secured—through emergency restraint orders and extended investigatory audits.
International cooperation has also played a role. Sri Lankan authorities are reportedly working with INTERPOL, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, and financial crime units in Dubai, Malaysia, and Australia — tracing funds moved offshore through cryptocurrency wallets, fake import-export schemes, and Hawala-style remittances.
These seizures were enabled under new enforcement powers linked to the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act, which allows the Attorney General’s Department and Financial Intelligence Unit to file civil recovery claims parallel to criminal prosecutions.
Legal sources confirm that the 88 individuals were each served with orders issued by district or high courts, following petitions filed by the Police Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID), supported by months of bank audits, land registry data, and mobile money tracking.
Under the new model, assets can be frozen within 72 hours if a prima facie case is made that they are linked to:
Narcotics trafficking
Money laundering
Human smuggling or trafficking
Extortion, arms trade, or contract killings
Financial fraud involving state funds or bank scams
A spokesperson for the AG’s Department stated: “This isn’t just about prosecution. It’s about denying criminal empires the oxygen of finance. If you take away their yachts, condos, and bank accounts, they’re just thugs on borrowed time.”
The public display of luxury has long been a hallmark of Sri Lanka’s underworld elite. From gold-plated iPhones and bulletproof Range Rovers to marble-lined mansions in Athurugiriya and rooftop shisha lounges in Bambalapitiya, the criminals of the past two decades have modelled themselves on Instagram-era gangsters — opulence as intimidation, decadence as defence.
But with this new crackdown, that lifestyle is being dismantled, brick by brick.
In a raid on a luxury apartment belonging to one of the 88 accused, police found not only cash and gold bars — but also cryptocurrency wallets, fake passports, a framed photograph with a former minister, and a stash of imported designer shoes.
“This is not just a war on crime,” said criminologist Dr. Shehan Kumara of the University of Colombo. “It’s a war on the idea that crime pays. And these confiscations tell a powerful story — that no mansion is safe from the law.”
While the current list contains 88 names, senior intelligence officers hint that another 100 names are under active surveillance. These include not just underworld actors but also white-collar enablers: lawyers, bank managers, real estate brokers, and even junior politicians suspected of facilitating the concealment of illicit funds.
More asset-freezing orders are expected to be filed in the coming weeks, with potential links to high-profile unsolved crimes including the Easter Sunday attacks, Kalutara prison massacre, and the notorious Dubai drug cartel ring involving Sri Lankan nationals.
One CID source chillingly observed: “These aren’t isolated figures. They are a shadow state — with its own economy, logistics network, and enforcement arm. What we’re doing now is pulling out the spine.”
News of the crackdown has triggered a wave of public approval, especially on social media platforms, where citizens have long complained about the visible excesses of known criminals. Comments range from celebration to suspicion — many praising the freeze but asking why these men were allowed to accumulate such wealth in the first place.
One viral post on X (formerly Twitter) read: “We’ve been shouting about these criminals for years. Good on the government — but don’t stop at their gold. Jail them too.”
A recent public opinion poll by the Centre for Policy Alternatives shows 72% of respondents support aggressive asset seizure measures, with 83% demanding legal reforms to permanently nationalise proven proceeds of crime.
As Sri Lanka tries to recover from decades of economic mismanagement, corruption, and criminal infiltration into state institutions, this crackdown on black money and gangland wealth could mark a turning point — if it is sustained.
Analysts warn that unless convictions and permanent asset confiscations follow, many of these criminals will simply wait out the storm, regroup, and re-emerge.
But for now, the message is clear: the underworld can no longer hide behind bricks, gold, or bank balances.
The empire of Dematagoda Ruwan — once a symbol of how far a thug with the right connections could rise — is being dismantled by court order, auctioneer’s gavel, and the determined resolve of a government seeking redemption.
One luxury car at a time.
(Full list in Images)
-By LeN Crime Correspondent
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by (2025-06-15 17:13:08)
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