US-Sri Lanka agents busts Pakistan drug network, 463 kg meth seized

A joint operation by Sri Lankan and US authorities busted a Pakistan-based narcotrafficking network allegedly attempting to smuggle drugs valued at USD 21 million through the island nation to international black markets.  According to information, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Delhi Country Office and Sri Lanka’s Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) conducted a successful joint operation disrupting a Pakistan-based narcotrafficking network attempting to smuggle crystal methamphetamine through Sri Lanka to international markets. Acting on intelligence developed between August 14 and 29 about suspicious maritime containers being shipped from Pakistan to Colombo, the joint team intercepted the consignment and seized the crystal methamphetamine concealed in bath towels, a US Embassy release said on Wednesday. Several suspects, including Pakistani nationals, were arrested in the operation, it said.

Intelligence developed through the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration @DEAHQ helped Sri Lanka’s Police Narcotics Bureau @SL_PoliceMedia disrupt a Pakistan-based narcotrafficking network attempting to smuggle crystal methamphetamine through Sri Lanka to international markets.… pic.twitter.com/uvQP52rjyA

— U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka (@USEmbSL) September 2, 2026

Sri Lankan  police deputy inspector-general Ashoka Dharmasena told reporters that they had also arrested a local man in connection with the latest methamphetamine seizure and confirmed the operation followed a "tip-off." Sri Lanka's ongoing anti-narcotics drive since October has resulted in the seizure of nearly 14 tonnes of illegal drugs, he added.The PNB seized approximately 463 kg of crystal methamphetamine—valued at $21 million.
Sri Lanka's Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament that most of the illegal drugs originated in Afghanistan and Pakistan and were being smuggled into the island by sea. He said there were an estimated 400,000 drug users in the island nation of 22 million people. In October 2024, a Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to heroin smuggling. Sri Lanka's largest single seizure of narcotics was in December 2016, when customs officials found 800 kilograms of cocaine in a shipping container of timber destined for India.