Category: Featured Headlines

The U.S. Embassy in Sri Lanka says a joint counternarcotics operation has disrupted a Pakistan‑based trafficking network attempting to move crystal methamphetamine through Sri Lanka to international markets.

The Embassy said in a statement that acting on intelligence developed between August 14–29 by the DEA’s Foreign Counterparts Unit and Pakistan’s Anti‑Narcotics Force Special Investigations Cell, Sri Lanka’s Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) intercepted suspicious maritime containers arriving from Pakistan.

The seizure yielded approximately 463 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine, concealed in bath towels, with an estimated street value of $21 million. Several suspects, including Pakistani nationals, were taken into custody.

The US Embassy stressed that the operation underscores the strength of the US–Sri Lanka partnership in dismantling transnational criminal organizations that fund terrorism and threaten communities in both countries.

It further noted that this cooperation builds on longstanding training and technical assistance provided through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to Sri Lanka Police and Customs.

The United States reaffirmed its commitment to working with Sri Lanka and regional partners to aggressively pursue transnational criminal organizations, deny them revenue from illicit drug trafficking, and protect citizens from the dangers of narcotics.

The process of evaluating proposals to determine the future operator of the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) is currently underway, and the entire process is expected to be finalised by the middle of next year, Deputy Civil Aviation Minister Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku said.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, he said the Government is currently evaluating the proposals submitted by parties interested in taking part in the operation of the MRIA. “We are currently carrying out the evaluations. We hope that we will be able to finalise this whole process by mid next year. By that time, we will be able to form a new operational model,” he said.

It was reported earlier the Government is considering whether to hand over the operation of the Hambantota-based Airport to a single investor or divide different aspects of its operations among several parties, depending on which arrangement would provide the greatest benefit to the country. Nineteen parties had submitted expressions of interest (EOIs), and the next stage was to issue requests for proposals to those parties. The Government called for EOIs earlier this year (2026) as part of its effort to find a joint venture partner or partners to operate the MRIA and improve its financial performance. The move came after years of low passenger numbers and high operating and maintenance costs at the Airport.

Kodiththuwakku had previously told The Daily Morning that the MRIA had not generated the returns expected since it was established and continued to incur annual losses of around Rs 3 billion, a figure roughly equivalent to its operating costs. He said the Government had first focused on restoring the Airport to a condition in which it could operate safely, but that the priority had now shifted towards making the facility commercially viable.

Located in Hambantota, the MRIA was built with the intention of supporting regional development and easing pressure on the Bandaranaike International Airport, Katunayake. However, its low passenger volumes and the cost of maintaining the facility have made its future operation a longstanding issue for successive Governments.

A visiting representative of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) has joined families of disappeared persons from the north and east at an exhibition displaying personal belongings and memorabilia of their missing relatives.

Ana Lorena Delgadillo Pérez of the WGEID and Yogarasa Kanagaranjini, head of the Association of Relatives of Enforced Disappearances (ARED), opened the “Long Road for Justice” exhibition at the Thanthai Selva Auditorium in Jaffna on Sunday (30), marking the International Day for Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

Hundreds of families searching for relatives who have been missing for more than 17 years attended the exhibition, with some becoming emotional while viewing belongings once cherished by their missing family members.

“No mother should die without knowing where her disappeared child is,” Delgadillo Pérez said.

She said the families’ search for answers would continue as long as the fate and whereabouts of victims remained unknown.

“As long as the victims’ fate and whereabouts remain unknown and their families continue to seek answers, the crime continues and so do the obligations of the state and the international community to act,” she said.

The visiting WGEID representative is scheduled to visit several areas in the north and east, including locations of discovered mass graves and military camps.

Her findings are expected to be included in the WGEID’s annual report on enforced disappearances and militarization.

Sri Lanka yesterday welcomed its largest-ever privately organised Japanese visitor delegation, as over 250 travellers arrived in Colombo through the Little Japan initiative, in what organisers are calling a landmark moment for tourism and bilateral cooperation between the two nations.

The arrival marks the culmination of months of planning under the campaign banner “Japan Returns to Sri Lanka,” and is being positioned as a defining moment in the renewal of people-to-people, cultural and commercial ties between Japan and Sri Lanka.

Organisers say the scale of the delegation reflects growing confidence among Japanese travellers and businesses in Sri Lanka as a destination, and opens the door to further collaboration across tourism, trade and investment in the months ahead.

The Japanese Delegation Tour Leader Arai Koyo (Sam San) said: “Sri Lanka has a warmth and richness that is increasingly hard to find, and it is drawing serious attention from Japan. Beyond its beauty, we see a country ready to build genuine, long-term partnerships with Japanese businesses and travellers alike. Bringing a delegation of this size here is our way of showing that interest is real, and we look forward to seeing where this relationship goes from here.”

The delegation was brought together through Little Japan, a platform founded by Colombo International Airport Hotel Chairman and Little Japan Founder Dr. Ruwan Perera to connect Japanese visitors, businesses and institutions with Sri Lankan destinations, enterprises and communities. Dr. Perera lived and worked in Japan for several years, giving him a first-hand understanding of the Japanese market, and has built Little Japan into one of the leading private platforms driving Japan-Sri Lanka engagement, growing from a 45-member business delegation in 2024 to today’s over 250 strong visitor group.

The arrival was also marked by the presence of Aviation Deputy Minister Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku underscoring the national significance of the visit and the Government’s support for deepening tourism links between the two countries. The Deputy Minister also acknowledged Dr. Ruwan Perera’s efforts in driving the Little Japan initiative, describing it as a valuable contribution to strengthening ties between Sri Lanka and Japan.

Dr. Ruwan Perera said: “A delegation of this size does not come together by chance, it reflects years of relationship-building between Little Japan and our partners in Japan. Our focus now shifts to what comes after this visit: translating this goodwill into concrete tourism and business outcomes for both countries.”

Colombo International Airport Hotel, a Japanese-supported hospitality investment near Bandaranaike International Airport, hosted the delegation’s arrival and is serving as its gateway throughout the visit, underscoring the hotel’s role in welcoming large-scale international groups and business travellers to Sri Lanka.

The delegation’s arrival was marked at a press conference held today, where representatives from Little Japan and Colombo International Airport Hotel outlined the significance of the visit and the opportunities it is expected to create for deeper tourism, trade and cultural exchange between Japan and Sri Lanka in the years ahead.

The India-Sri Lanka Foundation (ISLF) has approved 13 projects worth about Rs. 21 million aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two countries in areas including education, culture, agriculture, science and technology.

The projects were approved at the foundation’s 41st Board of Directors meeting in New Delhi on Aug. 28, co-chaired by Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Mahishini Colonne and Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha.

More than 500 project proposals were received by the Colombo Secretariat, of which 137 were shortlisted following a vetting process. Twenty proposals were submitted to the board for consideration, with 13 receiving approval.

The board also noted increased public interest in the foundation’s activities in both countries. The New Delhi Secretariat received 149 proposals from Indian nationals despite not issuing a formal call for proposals ahead of the meeting because of financial constraints.

Against this backdrop, the board highlighted the need to strengthen the foundation’s financial capacity, saying an expanded Corpus Fund would allow it to support more initiatives and provide additional opportunities for people-to-people exchanges between Sri Lanka and India.

Established in 1998 through an agreement between the two governments, the foundation promotes bilateral ties through economic, scientific, educational, technical and cultural cooperation and supports exchanges involving students, academics, researchers, professionals and artists.

The meeting was also attended by board members Prasad Kariyawasam, Mohan Kumar and Ashok Malik

Tamil women gathered outside the Jaffna district secretariat in protest where ministers Harshana Nanayakkara and Ramalingam Chandrasekar led an event to mark international day of victims of enforced disappearances on 25 August.

Police harassed those who tried to enter the secretariat premises, correspondents reported.

Secretary of the association of relatives of missing persons in the north-east Sivanandan Jenita accused head of the Office of Missing Persons (OMP) Mahesh Katulanda of deceiving them by declining information about 31 missing persons, he claims, are still living.

Even at a workshop two weeks ago, they were told 27 missing persons have been found, without identifying them, she said.

Concealing identities of 31 “living” missing persons condemned

After having inquired into an estimated 22,000 missing persons in an eight-year duration, Katulanda said to the media that 31 of them have been found to be living, of whom three have died recently due to natural causes.

No to compensation, justice demanded

Jenita questioned as to what sort of justice they could expect from the OMP, and asked if it can adequately compensate for a missing son.

Govt.’s claim of ensuring privacy of “found” missing persons

On the sideline of the event, a camp to provide medical and other mobile services was organized for the families of the missing persons, and the OMP claimed nearly 352 families sought services with 217 attending the medical camp and spectacles provided for the needy.

Minister Chandrasekar said on the occasion the identities of the 31 persons found have been revealed to their families only, in order to ensure their privacy.

With 1,594 cases referred for further investigation, certificates of absence and death have been issued for 2,719 and 409 cases respectively by 31 July to resolve legal and administrative issues of their families, he said.

Further, the OMP has been recommended to pay compensation to 5,427 persons, said the minister.

An attempt to deceive the world

On 24 August, the association of the district’s families of missing persons spoke to the media at the Mannar Media Club and objected to the OMP’s plan to hold the commemorative event in Jaffna on the following day.

A participant alleged the aim of the programme would be to show to the world the matter of missing persons could be resolved through a domestic mechanism without outside involvement.

We want out children back, not compensation, or else admit before the world that they had been abducted and murdered, she said.