Big time drug dealers must be sentenced to death: Minister

The drug menace devastating the country could be controlled only by identifying the big time drug peddlers, convicting and sentencing them to death, Justice, Human Rights and Legal Reforms Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva said.

The threat posed to the nation and to the young generation in particular from the abuse of drugs and narcotics cannot be prevented only by putting drug addicts and small scale drug traffickers behind bars, Minister De Silva added.

“If the US, Malaysia, Singapore and many other countries pass capital punishment on convicts of heinous crimes and drug barons why only Sri Lanka cannot do the same? Why do NGOs and certain foreign elements cry foul on Sri Lanka and demand us not to re-activate capital punishment on drug convicts? My belief is that the death penalty must be re-activated at least on big time convicted drug mudalalis who operate the drug trade in the country while on the death row,” Minister De Silva stressed.

“The strategic geo-political location Sri Lanka is positioned in the Indian Ocean makes it extremely difficult to control illegal drugs and narcotics trade. The Sri Lanka Navy is doing a commendable job in this regard. However, we cannot fight the drug war successfully only by putting a poor man who uses a packet of drugs on the culvert behind bars. We must catch the big time drug peddler who does the drug trade in big scale and devastates an entire generation,” he said. (Sandun A Jayasekera)