LAHORE MIRROR (AFP) — Anti-narcotics agents from the United States and Sri Lanka seized almost half a tonne of crystal methamphetamine following a joint operation targeting a Pakistani drug network, police said on Wednesday.
Officials seized some 463 kilos of the synthetic drug from a shipping container that arrived in Colombo over the weekend and arrested two Pakistani men, police deputy inspector-general Ashoka Dharmasena told reporters.
The US embassy in Colombo said the smugglers intended to smuggle the narcotics, valued at $21 million and concealed in bath towels, to international markets via Sri Lanka.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration’s office and Sri Lanka Police Narcotics Bureau conducted the joint operation, the embassy said in a statement, after tracking shipping containers from Pakistan between August 14-29.
“This operation underscores the strength of the US-Sri Lanka partnership in dismantling transnational criminal organisations that fund terrorism and threaten communities in both our countries,” 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
Dharmasena said 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 haul includes methamphetamine, also known as ice, heroin and cocaine.
Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told parliament that most of the illegal drugs originated in Pakistan and Afghanistan, 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.
