By The Pulseline News Desk
Police statistics showing that around 12,000 young people were arrested for drug-related offences over the past year have raised questions about the actual number of children involved and the safeguards available to those under 18 who enter the criminal justice system.
According to figures released under the Government’s “A Nation United” drug eradication programme, 90% of those arrested between October 2025 and October 2026 were aged between 18 and 21, while the remaining 10% were reported as children below 18.
According to reports, the Police Narcotics Bureau, however, has subsequently clarified that the overwhelming majority of those arrested were young adults, rather than children, leaving the exact number of minors involved uncertain.
Police Narcotics Bureau Director SSP H.M.C.P. Herath has told an English weekly newspaper that a child is legally defined as a person below 18 years of age, but the Bureau did not have an age-specific breakdown of the arrests at the time.
The absence of detailed figures has reportedly complicated attempts to establish the extent of drug-related arrests involving children, particularly as the initial statistics have been widely interpreted as indicating a significant number of minors being caught up in drug offences.
Questions have also emerged over the procedures followed when children are arrested and the institutional safeguards available to them.
SSP Herath has reportedly said the Women and Children’s Bureau was involved when children were arrested, with courts determining subsequent action and the National Child Protection Authority (NCPA) providing support. However, he was unable to explain the specific statutory procedures governing the arrest and handling of children in such cases.
The NCPA, meanwhile, has stated that it had not been involved in the arrests or the subsequent processing of the children included in the statistics.
Sajeewani Abeykoon, Director and Head of the NCPA’s Law Enforcement Division, has told the respective newspaper that the Authority had intervened only when complaints of abuse were received. “We only take up cases with a complainant in instances of abuse, so we have not been involved in these arrests or the processing of these children following the arrest,” she has said.
The NCPA’s mandate includes preventing child abuse, protecting and treating child victims and coordinating action against different forms of abuse. Its Special Police Unit is empowered to investigate complaints of abuse and coordinate legal proceedings against alleged perpetrators.
The clarification has reportedly raised questions about how children arrested in drug-related investigations are identified and assessed, particularly in cases where they may have been exploited or recruited by adults involved in drug trafficking.
Police Media Spokesman ASP F.U. Wootler has said the approach towards children involved in drug-related offences should prioritise counselling, rehabilitation and probation rather than punishment.
Where criminal proceedings are considered necessary, children are produced before a Magistrate, who determines the appropriate course of action, he has said.
The police also work with relevant authorities to establish whether children require rehabilitation or other interventions.
The arrests were conducted islandwide under the Government’s nationwide drug eradication campaign, which seeks to tackle drug trafficking and related offences.
While the figures have indicated the scale of arrests among young people, the lack of an accurate age-disaggregated breakdown leaves several important questions unanswered.
These include the precise number of children arrested, the nature of the allegations against them, whether they were users or involved in distribution networks, and what protective or rehabilitative measures were taken following their arrest.
The distinction is particularly important because children who come into contact with the criminal justice system may themselves be vulnerable to exploitation, making proper identification, protection and rehabilitation central to any effective response to the country’s drug problem.
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