Nine thousand one hundred and five.
That is the figure Sri Lanka Police has placed into the public discussion about young people and drugs.
According to figures disclosed by Police Media Spokesperson ASP F. U. Wootler, 9,105 people aged between eight and 21 were arrested in connection with drug-related offences between October 30, 2025 and October 1, 2026.
Of them, 8,932 were male and 173 female.
Eleven were between eight and 14.
Those numbers are enough to produce a headline.
They are not enough to explain what is happening.
About 27 Arrests Every Day
The Police figure covers 337 calendar days.
That works out to approximately 27 arrests involving people aged eight to 21 every day.
The 11 people aged eight to 14 represent only around 0.12% of the total.
But their presence in the figures carries significance far beyond their statistical weight.
An eight-year-old entering the criminal justice system raises very different questions from a 21-year-old being arrested.
The aggregate figure does not tell the public how many were suspected of possession, selling drugs, acting as couriers or committing some other drug-related offence.
It also does not disclose how many were first-time cases, repeat arrests or subsequently diverted from prosecution.
The 9,105 Should Not Be Added to the National Arrest Total
There is an important distinction between the Police operation figure and the statistics published by the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board.
The 9,105 figure relates to a particular age bracket and period associated with the national operation.
NDDCB’s national statistics cover drug-related arrests recorded across law-enforcement agencies.
They are separate datasets and should not be added together.
In 2025, NDDCB recorded 262,321 drug-related arrests nationally.
Methamphetamine accounted for 35.3% of the total, making it the largest arrest category in 2025.
The 2026 Arrest Pace Is Running Higher
NDDCB recorded 121,266 drug-related arrests between January and May 2026.
Of those, 47,310 involved methamphetamine.
| Measure | 2025 | Jan–May 2026 | Simple daily comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| All drug-related arrests | 262,321 | 121,266 | ≈719/day vs ≈803/day |
| Methamphetamine arrests | 92,650 | 47,310 | ≈254/day vs ≈313/day |
The simple daily arrest pace for all drugs was approximately 11.7% higher in January–May 2026 than the 2025 full-year average.
The methamphetamine arrest pace was around 23.4% higher.
58.2% of Arrests Came From Western Province
Western Province accounted for 152,707 of Sri Lanka’s 262,321 drug-related arrests in 2025.
That is 58.2% of the national total.
Yet Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara together accounted for approximately 28.1% of Sri Lanka’s estimated population.
Colombo District alone recorded 119,330 drug-related arrests — 45.5% of the national total.
Using the Department of Census and Statistics’ 2025 population estimate, that is approximately 5,033 arrests per 100,000 resident population.
Methamphetamine Is Even More Concentrated
Western Province recorded 62,851 of Sri Lanka’s 92,650 methamphetamine arrests in 2025.
That is 67.8%.
Colombo alone recorded 49,736 — approximately 53.7% of every methamphetamine arrest in the country.
The Treatment Data Tells a Different Story
NDDCB recorded 6,030 treatment admissions for drug-use disorders during 2025.
The largest age groups were not children.
| Age | Treatment admissions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 0–14 | 5 | 0.1% |
| 15–19 | 283 | 4.7% |
| 20–24 | 1,116 | 18.5% |
| 25–29 | 1,742 | 28.9% |
| 30–34 | 1,341 | 22.2% |
People aged 20–34 accounted for approximately 69.6% of all treatment admissions.
Then There Are the Missing Fields
NDDCB’s treatment report also contains two significant gaps.
Those missing fields limit how confidently arrests can be compared with treatment needs by substance and geography.
The Missing Number After 9,105 Arrests
The official datasets reviewed by Lakbima News provide extensive figures on arrests, drug categories, locations, seizures and treatment admissions.
What they do not provide is a public dataset linking the 9,105 youth arrests to their eventual outcomes.
That last question matters because the juvenile-justice system contains protections that do not apply in exactly the same way to adult suspects.
National Child Protection Authority guidance addresses parental or guardian involvement, police bail, remand arrangements and the treatment of children and young persons after arrest.
Enforcement Is Being Measured More Closely Than Outcomes
The Ratama Ekata operation itself is officially described as a multi-part programme involving law enforcement, supply reduction, demand reduction, prevention, rehabilitation and community involvement.
If those are the objectives, arrests are only one measure.
A fuller public assessment would need to show what happened afterwards.
