President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has issued a stern warning over the deepening links between organized crime networks and elements within state institutions, describing it as a national crisis that must be dismantled immediately.
Addressing a high-level coordination meeting with senior officials, the President outlined how drug money and criminal syndicates have infiltrated key areas of governance, posing a severe threat to national security and the rule of law.
“Crime has become a national crisis—one rooted in the drug trade and the erosion of law and order,” the President declared. “Alarmingly, certain state institutions now operate under the influence of organized crime and drug money.”
He cited shocking examples, including cases where state agencies had allegedly produced vehicle number plates for armed gangs and issued multiple passports to criminals, enabling them to evade law enforcement.
In one instance, he said a bookseller from the Pettah bus stand was sent to provide fingerprints on behalf of a wanted criminal applying for a passport — and the system accepted it without raising any security alerts.
“Some officials within these institutions have become facilitators of criminal activity,” the President said, adding that weapons from military camps had also found their way into the hands of criminals, with certain police officers complicit in these operations.
“This cannot continue,” he stressed. “We must dismantle this corrupt system. As the political leadership, we have a clear objective. The people expect change — and it is our duty, together with the officials, to deliver it.”
