Coast Guard burns more than 50,000 cannabis saplings in Yala
Sri Lanka's Coast Guard and the Police Special Task Force arrested one person and burned more than 50,000 locally cultivated cannabis saplings in the Yala Jungle area. The suspect was handed to Kataragama Police for further investigation.
🇱🇰 Yala Jungle area · Sri Lanka
- Arrested
- 1
- Plants destroyed
- 50,000
On 2 June 2026 the Sri Lanka Coast Guard, working with the Police Special Task Force unit in Kataragama, conducted an operation in the Yala Jungle area and arrested one person with more than 50,000 locally cultivated cannabis saplings.[1] The Coast Guard said officers burned the saplings where they were found and handed the suspect to Kataragama Police for investigation and legal proceedings.[1]
The Sinhala-language version of the Coast Guard’s notice says officers acted on special information and describes the locally grown saplings as prepared for planting.[1]
Sources
- OVER FIFTY THOUSAND LOCAL CANNABIS PLANTS ARRESTED BY COAST GUARD. Sri Lanka Coast Guard, 3 June 2026.
Open questions the AI reported
- The Coast Guard reported more than 50,000 saplings but no exact count or cultivation area.
- The exact site within the Yala Jungle area and the suspect's later legal outcome were not reported.
- No independent news report of this operation was found.
