-By LeN Colombo Correspondent
(Lanka-e-News -28.Aug.2025, 10.50 PM) In a dramatic international sting, Sri Lankan law enforcement agencies, working hand in hand with Interpol and the Indonesian Metropolitan Police, have captured several notorious organised crime leaders—including the infamous Kehelbaddara Padme—in a covert operation overseas.
The arrests, which took place in Indonesia, mark one of the most significant blows in recent years against Sri Lanka’s underworld networks, long accused of orchestrating narcotics trafficking, extortion rackets, and transnational smuggling rings.
Among those taken into custody were:
Kehelbaddara Padme, described by investigators as a syndicate kingpin;
Komando Salintha, an underworld figure known for paramilitary-style operations;
Bako Saman, a reputed enforcer with links to drug cartels;
Nilanga, another key operative.
Lahiru-
Police confirmed that a woman and a young child were also present among the arrested group, though their identities and involvement remain under investigation.
The operation was carried out by a joint task force comprising officers of the Sri Lankan Police and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who travelled to Indonesia to coordinate directly with local authorities and Interpol. The arrests were the culmination of months of intelligence gathering and covert tracking, police sources confirmed.
“This operation shows that there are no safe havens for organised crime,” said Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya, speaking at a special press briefing in Colombo. “Those who believe they can evade justice by hiding in Malaysia, India, Abu Dhabi, or Indonesia will be brought back to face trial.”
Weerasooriya disclosed that around 20 suspects linked to Sri Lanka’s crime syndicates have already been arrested abroad in recent months and repatriated to Colombo. These include individuals detained in India, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates. Future operations are being prepared to track and detain fugitives believed to be sheltering in France, Russia, Belarus and other jurisdictions.
The names of Padme and his associates have long struck fear in Colombo and beyond. Law enforcement agencies accuse them of running criminal empires spanning extortion, money laundering, illegal weapons deals, and drug trafficking routes stretching from South Asia to the Middle East.
Their movements across Southeast Asia—flitting between Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, and Jakarta—mirror the itineraries of transnational mafias that use safe havens and complex financial networks to outpace domestic law enforcement.
But this latest arrest suggests the net is finally closing. “The message is clear: there is no corner of the world where Sri Lankan criminals can hide,” Weerasooriya declared.
At the same briefing, Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala announced that the government would establish a specialised criminal court to fast-track prosecutions against organised crime figures.
“These individuals are not ordinary criminals,” Wijepala said. “They are organised, networked, and capable of corrupting institutions. We cannot allow cases of this magnitude to drag on in the regular system for decades. Justice must be swift, visible, and uncompromising.”
The proposal, which is expected to go before Cabinet in the coming weeks, has already drawn interest from international legal observers. If enacted, it would mirror models seen in Italy’s anti-Mafia tribunals and India’s special fast-track courts for terror-related offences.
News of the arrests has sparked widespread public interest and cautious optimism. On social media, many Sri Lankans welcomed the operation as a long-overdue strike against crime bosses who, in their view, had been allowed to thrive for too long under political patronage.
Yet others expressed scepticism, noting that previous high-profile arrests have often fizzled out in court amid witness intimidation and procedural delays.
Whether this new momentum—backed by international partnerships and a promised special tribunal—will finally dismantle the underworld networks remains to be seen. But the capture of Kehelbaddara Padme and his associates marks, at the very least, a symbolic victory in a long war against organised crime.
-By LeN Colombo Correspondent
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by (2025-08-28 18:16:58)
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