When politics meets drug trade: Sri Lanka Customs under fire

The Middeniya–Thalawa chemical haul shows how deeply narcotics have penetrated our borders. Unless Sri Lanka Customs comes clean on red-flagged containers, public trust is bound to collapse.

The recent seizure of 50,000 kilograms of precursor chemicals in Middeniya–Thalawa is not simply a policing triumph—it is a stark warning. Chemicals of this scale cannot move into the country unless Sri Lanka Customs, our frontline border agency, has failed in its duty of care.

Allegations of political links make the scandal even graver. One chief suspect, a former SLPP local politician, is accused of transporting enough chemicals to produce 200 kilograms of methamphetamine (“ice”) worth over Rs. 2 billion. This raises a disturbing question: how did such consignments bypass Sri Lanka Customs’ controls in the first place?

The red-flagged container scandal

This latest case cannot be separated from the unresolved scandal of the “red-flagged containers.” Reports tabled in Parliament revealed that, in 2024–25, hundreds of high-risk “red” containers—and over 2,200 red and amber consignments in total—were released without mandatory scanning or inspection.

Sri Lanka Customs defended these decisions as a congestion-relief measure. But the effect was to wave through cargo that had been explicitly marked as high-risk. A Treasury-appointed committee has since recommended disciplinary action against those involved. Yet the public has not seen the full list of containers, the authorisations given, or the names of the officers involved.

Until Sri Lanka Customs explains how those decisions were made or who gave the orders to release these containers, the fear will linger that consignments of precursor chemicals—and perhaps worse—were allowed to enter the country unchecked as part of these ‘unauthorised’ releases.

The questions that must be answered

If Sri Lanka is serious about fighting the drug trade, then Customs cannot hide behind vague references to “system failures.” Five urgent steps are required immediately:

1.Full disclosure of data: Publish the HS codes, importer names, agents, container numbers, and authorisations for all red- and amber-flagged consignments released without inspection.

2.Forensic cross-checks: Match those consignments against Police and Navy intelligence on smuggling routes for precursor chemicals and narcotics.

3.Release the committee’s report: The parliamentary committee’s findings must be published in full, including annexures and minute-by-minute authorisations.

4.Personal accountability: Which Sri Lanka Customs officials signed off? Were there external calls or political interventions? Responsibility cannot remain abstract. Investigations into the mobile phones of suspects may reveal further connections.

5.Escalation if obstructed: If Customs fails to release the data, chambers of commerce and civil society should invoke the Right to Information Act. If misconduct or enrichment is suspected, the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) must intervene.

A system on trial

Sri Lanka Customs has reported record revenues this year. New digital systems are being rolled out. Yet none of this matters if high-risk consignments can be released at will. Revenue milestones mean little when the integrity of border control is in doubt.

The Middeniya–Thalawa case has exposed not just an underworld pipeline, but the fragility of an institution meant to defend the State itself. Without transparency and accountability, Sri Lanka Customs risks losing the trust of the public, the business community, and international partners.

The bottom line

The drug trade thrives on weak borders. If we do not publish the records, name the authorisations, and trace the chemicals, then the next “haul” will not be in a warehouse—it will be in our schools and other educational institutions.

Sri Lanka Customs must open its books to the public. Anything less is complicity.

 Desmoind Z. de Silva,

Idama, Moratuwa