• 10,804 firearms seized in four-year crackdown
• Gangs increasingly resort to homemade weapons
• Organised crime murders drop sharply
• Gang leaders isolated in high-security prison unit

A sustained Police crackdown has left organised criminal networks facing a growing shortage of illegal firearms, forcing some gangs to turn to locally manufactured weapons, according to Deputy Inspector General Chandana Kodituwakku.

Addressing a special media briefing yesterday (11), the head of the Police Crime Division said authorities seized 10,804 machine guns and assault-type weapons between 2021 and 2024, while organised crime-related killings have dropped sharply, with fewer than 20 recorded during the first half of 2026. He described the trend as evidence that criminal groups are increasingly struggling to obtain illicit weapons through traditional channels.

He explained that the Police had made significant progress compared to previous years and had managed to bring organised criminal activity under much better control. He said that the number of murders by organised crime groups had dropped considerably compared with recent years, adding that the Police had succeeded in limiting killings to fewer than 20 during the first six months of this year (2026) and is expected to reduce the figure even further. 

Kodituwakku said that organised criminal gangs primarily use firearms such as Type-56 and Avtomat Kalashnikova-47 assault rifles, nine millimetres Browning pistols and revolvers, adding that the Police had seized 1,459 such weapons in 2020, 2,225 in 2021, 1,684 in 2022, 3,022 in 2023 and 2,414 in 2024.

He further said that a recent forensic investigation into a T-56 rifle used in a murder in Colombo had revealed that the same weapon had been used in a killing in Matara two days earlier. The firearm had been transported from Matara to Colombo after the first crime, which, he said, demonstrated the shortage of weapons faced by organised criminal groups.

He said that the Police had also uncovered evidence that criminal networks had turned to locally manufactured firearms. He referred to the recent seizure by the Central Crime Investigation Bureau of a locally produced weapon with capabilities similar to the Israeli-made Mini Uzi submachine gun, a firearm commonly used by military special forces, Army commandos, the Special Task Force and the Presidential Security Division. He added that the Police had also seized 19 locally made "galkatas" firearms four days ago, describing the discoveries as further evidence that organised criminal groups are increasingly relying on domestic production due to the scarcity of illegal weapons.

Kodituwakku said that there are 46 organised crime leaders operating from overseas, and that 24 of them had already been arrested by the Police and brought back to Sri Lanka. Investigations into those suspects had yielded important information, and he said that removing the leaders from their networks had left many of their followers without direction or support.

He also said that the Prisons Department had established a special prison facility for organised crime leaders. "Nine gang leaders are currently being held there under a system designed to prevent communication among them and with the outside world. They are housed in separate, isolated cells and have no access to telephones," he said.