Sri Lankan authorities have arrested tens of thousands of people in a monthlong crackdown on drugs, and vowed to continue despite UN criticism of possible human rights violations during the “heavy-handed” operation. Since the operation began in December, heavily armed police and military personnel with sniffer dogs have made regular nighttimes raids on homes and search buses, seizing narcotics and arresting suspects who include drug users, local dealers and distributors, and people with records of drug-related arrests.
Acting police chief Deshabandu Tennakoon told The Associated Press on Thursday that more than 40,000 people have arrested and questioned during operations conducted jointly by the police and security forces, and 5,000 were ordered detained by the courts.