COLOMBO, June 23, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Sri Lanka's anti-narcotics drive has resulted in the seizure of more than three tonnnes (6,600 pounds) of illegal drugs with a street value of $76 million this year, officials said Monday.

Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala said most of the illegal drugs originated in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and were being smuggled into the island by sea.

He said there were an estimated 400,000 addicts in the nation of 22 million people.

"We need to reduce demand while keeping up detections," Wijepala told reporters in Colombo.

Police chief Priyantha Weerasooriya said the drugs seized had a street value of 23 billion rupees ($76 million). That was close to the 28 billion rupees' worth of drugs seized in the whole of 2024.

More than 1,000 people were arrested for drug dealing and smuggling, he added. They included a 38-year-old Thai woman, arrested at Colombo airport on May 30 carrying nearly 10 kilograms (22 pounds) of cocaine, the largest detection of the drug at an entry point to the South Asian nation.

Also last month, three others -- from Britain, India and Thailand -- were arrested trying to smuggle in nearly 60 kilograms (132 pounds) of synthetic cannabis.

All four suspects, including the Thai woman arrested with cocaine, could face life imprisonment if convicted.

Sri Lankan authorities have previously seized large quantities of heroin off the country's shores, suggesting the island is being used as a transit hub for narcotics destined for other locations.

In October, a Sri Lankan court sentenced 10 Iranian men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to heroin smuggling.

Sri Lanka's largest single seizure of narcotics occurred in December 2016, when Customs found 800 kilos of cocaine in a transshipment container of timber destined for India.