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| Sunday, 6 April 2003 |
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Ex Narco chief warns against 'Ecstasy' by Panduka Senanayake 'Ecstasy' the synthetic drug may have already made inroads into Sri Lanka, founder of the Police Narcotics Bureau and ex-drug specialist of the Interpol, R. Sunderalingam told the Sunday Observer. Sunderalingam, who is currently assisting the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India in Interpol related subjects including narcotics, money laundering and cyber crime was a special guest at the 30th anniversary of the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB), held last week. In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer he said that intelligence indicated that the drug, which is already available in major Indian cities of Mumbai, Chennai, New Delni, Bangalore and Hyderabad, is available in Colombo. While no detection of the drug have yet been made in the island, the possibility of it being available to children from the affluent class who inhabit night-clubs and discos in Colombo was not ruled out by the former DIG. "Intelligence indicates the possibility," he said adding that the situation was similar to the early 1980's when heroin entered the drug scene in Sri Lanka. He said that the drug, which, due to its cost, initially circulated amongst the affluent, subsequently became available to the children of the middle and urban classes. Extensive use of the drug leads to brain damage. Manufactured mainly in laboratories in the Netherlands and Belgium as well as Germany, it targeted the USA and the whole of Europe. Also known as a designer drug, it has 1.5 million users in the UK. According to him, Mafia from the former USSR and Israelis of Russian origin are heavily involved in the smuggling of the drug which comes in tablet form and is difficult to detect. Sunderalingam called for greater vigilance by all law enforcement agencies as well as concerned parents and citizens to ensure that substances such as 'Ecstasy' do not get a foothold in Sri Lanka. |
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