Sri Lankan police said on Sunday they had arrested nearly 15,000 people during a huge anti-drug operation carried out for over a week with the support of the army and criticized by human rights activists.
According to police, nearly 13,700 suspected human traffickers have been arrested, as well as 1,100 consumers who are required to undergo a detoxification program in army centers.
During the raid, 440 kilos of narcotics were confiscated, including 272 kilos of cannabis, 35 kilos of hashish and nine kilos of heroin, according to a press release from this source.
This huge dragnet has been harshly criticized by human rights activists.
Lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah argued that the searches and arrests were carried out without a legal warrant and called on those affected to record the officers' identities for a legal challenge.
For her part, activist Ambika Satkunanathan highlighted the lack of prior investigation and concluded that the dragnet “only targeted poor areas” while sparing large traffickers.
The operation must resume from December 27, with police being mobilized for public security tasks during the holidays, police said.