By Skandha Gunasekara
The Government’s crackdown on narcotics across the island, following an initiative of President Maithripala Sirisena, does not seem to have hindered drug supply through social media and its use or events organised via social media, with school children and celebrities becoming more and more involved. However, in a new move, the State will utilise the tri-forces to tackle the drug menace as well.
Early last Sunday morning (3), exactly a week ago, 17 youths including a student studying for his GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination were arrested by authorities in Matara while using hard drugs such as cocaine.
Those arrested also included a prominent actress, police sources said.
The arrest was carried out at a hotel in Polhena, Matara. The suspects had been revelling at a party in Mirissa and had gone to Matara while the party was still going on.
The suspects were arrested and produced before the Matara Magistrate Court.
The police had confiscated a total of 1.55 grams of cocaine and 250 milligrams of an unidentified drug as well as several unidentified tablets.
The party, which was to go on till Sunday evening, had been abruptly stopped after word spread of the arrests in Matara.
The A/L student was from Matara, while the others arrested were residents of Colombo, Panadura, Ja-Ela, Mabole, and Wattala according to the Police.
Social media a challenge
Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said that authorities were doing all they could to tackle the drug problem, but that social media was proving to be a challenge.
“We cannot stop events from being organised through Facebook. Social media is the challenge we are facing right now. We have to work on tip-offs and intelligence to raid these parties and catch perpetrators,” he said.
He said the best way was to carry out awareness campaigns and educate the masses on the harms of using drugs as well as the legal penalties of being caught with drugs.
“We have done our best to educate the masses on the dangers of drug use and the legal repercussions of being arrested in connection with narcotics. It is up to them to adhere to our warnings. But we will take the toughest legal action possible for drug offenders,” Gunasekara said.
He said the Police would arrest any individual involved illegal drugs, regardless of the person’s affluence or influence, and produce them in courts.
“We do not care who the individual is or who he or she is related to, or how much money they have. If a person is caught with drugs, we will arrest them and produce them before the judiciary and urge the courts to mete out the toughest penalty possible,” he said, adding that the Police make public the names of those arrested in connection with narcotics.
Gunasekara went on to say that a majority of the parties organised via social media, particularly Facebook, were planned by drug dealers and the drug mafia to sell their illegal products.
“Most of the parties organised via Facebook or other social media platforms are done by drug dealers. They use these parties to introduce narcotics to various youth and as a place to sell their drugs.”
He said that the Police would take proactive measures, in that if the Police are tipped off about such a party, they would station sniffer dogs at the entrance to detect illegal substances and in special instances, would deploy undercover operatives to infiltrate parties to weed out any illegal activities.
Dangerous Drugs Control Board Assistant Director – Preventive Education and Training Pradeep Koholanegedara told The Sunday Morning that both international and local drug cartels were actively using social media to expose youth to narcotics.
Today’s youth more exposed
“Due to the prevalent use of social media among today’s youth, they are more easily exposed to drugs and drug use. International and local drug rings use social media platforms to market their drugs. This is one of the main reasons for the rapid spread of narcotics use among youngsters these days,” said Koholanegedara.
He noted that older generations were exposed to much milder substances such as tobacco, marijuana, or alcohol during their youth but that present-day youth were introduced to much harder drugs at an early age because of social media.
“Because of the internet and what’s shown on television, the youth see and want to experiment with much harder drugs than what was available during our time or to older generations. These hard narcotics such as heroin or cocaine are far more addictive and far more harmful to the body,” he said.
He revealed that 752 new psychoactive substances have been introduced to the market in the last five years, 20 of which were now available in Sri Lanka.
However, State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene said that the Government had noted the prevalence of narcotic use at events organised via Facebook and had initiated an action plan to combat the issue.
“We noticed that there has been a lot of drug use at parties organised through Facebook – especially in 2018 – and are taking special steps to address this issue.”
He said that the Police had been ordered to investigate narcotics being sold via social media.
He also said that the tri-forces had been mobilised to raid such parties and that their involvement would further assist in curbing the drug problem.
“The crackdown on drugs is sending a clear message that the Government will not tolerate illegal drugs in the country. The involvement of the tri-forces will assist us in this cause.”
He said that the biggest issue lay in apprehending drug suppliers.
“The biggest challenge is catching the suppliers. We need to apprehend such culprits to stop the supply of drugs to the country.”
The Government’s crackdown on narcotics across the island, following an initiative of President Maithripala Sirisena, does not seem to have hindered drug supply through social media and its use or events organised via social media, with school children and celebrities becoming more and more involved. However, in a new move, the State will utilise the tri-forces to tackle the drug menace as well.
Early last Sunday morning (3), exactly a week ago, 17 youths including a student studying for his GCE Advanced Level (A/L) examination were arrested by authorities in Matara while using hard drugs such as cocaine.
Those arrested also included a prominent actress, police sources said.
The arrest was carried out at a hotel in Polhena, Matara. The suspects had been revelling at a party in Mirissa and had gone to Matara while the party was still going on.
The suspects were arrested and produced before the Matara Magistrate Court.
The police had confiscated a total of 1.55 grams of cocaine and 250 milligrams of an unidentified drug as well as several unidentified tablets.
The party, which was to go on till Sunday evening, had been abruptly stopped after word spread of the arrests in Matara.
The A/L student was from Matara, while the others arrested were residents of Colombo, Panadura, Ja-Ela, Mabole, and Wattala according to the Police.
Social media a challenge
Police Media Spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara, speaking to The Sunday Morning, said that authorities were doing all they could to tackle the drug problem, but that social media was proving to be a challenge.
“We cannot stop events from being organised through Facebook. Social media is the challenge we are facing right now. We have to work on tip-offs and intelligence to raid these parties and catch perpetrators,” he said.
He said the best way was to carry out awareness campaigns and educate the masses on the harms of using drugs as well as the legal penalties of being caught with drugs.
“We have done our best to educate the masses on the dangers of drug use and the legal repercussions of being arrested in connection with narcotics. It is up to them to adhere to our warnings. But we will take the toughest legal action possible for drug offenders,” Gunasekara said.
He said the Police would arrest any individual involved illegal drugs, regardless of the person’s affluence or influence, and produce them in courts.
“We do not care who the individual is or who he or she is related to, or how much money they have. If a person is caught with drugs, we will arrest them and produce them before the judiciary and urge the courts to mete out the toughest penalty possible,” he said, adding that the Police make public the names of those arrested in connection with narcotics.
Gunasekara went on to say that a majority of the parties organised via social media, particularly Facebook, were planned by drug dealers and the drug mafia to sell their illegal products.
“Most of the parties organised via Facebook or other social media platforms are done by drug dealers. They use these parties to introduce narcotics to various youth and as a place to sell their drugs.”
He said that the Police would take proactive measures, in that if the Police are tipped off about such a party, they would station sniffer dogs at the entrance to detect illegal substances and in special instances, would deploy undercover operatives to infiltrate parties to weed out any illegal activities.
Dangerous Drugs Control Board Assistant Director – Preventive Education and Training Pradeep Koholanegedara told The Sunday Morning that both international and local drug cartels were actively using social media to expose youth to narcotics.
Today’s youth more exposed
“Due to the prevalent use of social media among today’s youth, they are more easily exposed to drugs and drug use. International and local drug rings use social media platforms to market their drugs. This is one of the main reasons for the rapid spread of narcotics use among youngsters these days,” said Koholanegedara.
He noted that older generations were exposed to much milder substances such as tobacco, marijuana, or alcohol during their youth but that present-day youth were introduced to much harder drugs at an early age because of social media.
“Because of the internet and what’s shown on television, the youth see and want to experiment with much harder drugs than what was available during our time or to older generations. These hard narcotics such as heroin or cocaine are far more addictive and far more harmful to the body,” he said.
He revealed that 752 new psychoactive substances have been introduced to the market in the last five years, 20 of which were now available in Sri Lanka.
However, State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene said that the Government had noted the prevalence of narcotic use at events organised via Facebook and had initiated an action plan to combat the issue.
“We noticed that there has been a lot of drug use at parties organised through Facebook – especially in 2018 – and are taking special steps to address this issue.”
He said that the Police had been ordered to investigate narcotics being sold via social media.
He also said that the tri-forces had been mobilised to raid such parties and that their involvement would further assist in curbing the drug problem.
“The crackdown on drugs is sending a clear message that the Government will not tolerate illegal drugs in the country. The involvement of the tri-forces will assist us in this cause.”
He said that the biggest issue lay in apprehending drug suppliers.
“The biggest challenge is catching the suppliers. We need to apprehend such culprits to stop the supply of drugs to the country.”