Information Leak Scandal: All Narcotics Officers' Assets and Liabilities Under Scrutiny

 Based on an incident where officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau secretly accessed the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) belonging to the bureau and provided information to traffickers, it has been decided to examine the assets and liabilities of all officers serving in the bureau.

Following the orders of Inspector General of Police Priyantha Weerasooriya, investigations into this incident are being conducted by two divisions: the Police Special Investigations Unit is handling the asset verification, while the Criminal Investigation Department has launched an investigation into the criminal aspect of the information leak.

Investigations have revealed that this monitoring system, which collects data on multi-day fishing vessels and boats used for drug trafficking, was externally accessed from 57 different IP addresses, and the confidential information obtained through this access has fallen into the hands of drug traffickers.

While in the past, the Navy and the Narcotics Bureau conducted successful raids using data from this VMS system, it has become apparent that in recent times, due to the leakage of relevant information, traffickers have been changing their routes and boats to evade Navy patrols.

To control this situation, the secret codes of this system, which previously allowed many officers access, have now been changed, and new passwords have been issued only to the Deputy Inspector General and the Director of the Narcotics Bureau, thereby tightening security measures.

Meanwhile, it is reported that five Sub-Inspectors suspected of maintaining ties with drug traffickers and failing to perform their duties properly have been immediately transferred,

and their actions have hindered successful raids.

Currently, over 400 officers serve in the Narcotics Bureau, and asset reports for approximately 20 of these officers have already been received. Senior officials have decided that if any suspicious assets are revealed, those officers will be immediately dismissed and legal action will be taken.

In the future, a stricter methodology will be adopted for recruiting new officers to this bureau. Police Headquarters has taken steps to call applicants for interviews only after a comprehensive investigation into their previous service records and assets and liabilities.