Since President Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed office, a total of 58 criminals, including several underworld leaders who had been hiding overseas, have been brought back to Sri Lanka.
According to official information, 23 of those suspects were apprehended overseas based on international Red Notices. In addition, Sri Lankan Police have so far succeeded in bringing back 14 criminals who had been hiding abroad without the issuance of Red Notices.
The current government has also secured International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) Red Notices against 95 other underworld criminals. It is learnt that several of them are currently in custody in Dubai, Russia, and India.
One of the key pledges made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake during his presidential election campaign was to completely eliminate organized crime and drug trafficking, which he described as major threats to the country.
Although several previous presidents made similar promises, they were unable to achieve that objective successfully.
During the administration of Maithripala Sirisena, who assumed office in 2015, eight powerful underworld leaders who had fled the country were arrested overseas and brought back to Sri Lanka.
Subsequently, during the administration of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, no underworld leaders were brought back to the country.
During the administration of Ranil Wickremesinghe, 11 underworld leaders who had been arrested in foreign countries were extradited to Sri Lanka.
A detailed article containing extensive information on this matter is published on page 5.
