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Sri Lanka’s ‘Golden Triangle’ Drug Smuggling Ring Busted: Tons of Meth Seized in Landmark Raids

Sri Lankan authorities dismantled the ‘Golden Triangle’ drug network in massive raids, seizing tons of methamphetamine. The operation marks a major blow to regional trafficking routes and organized crime syndicates.

saransh kamboj

14 Jul 2025 — 8 min read

Sri Lanka’s ‘Golden Triangle’ Drug Smuggling Ring Busted: Tons of Meth Seized in Landmark Raids

Introduction

Early on the morning of June 30, 2025, Sri Lankan officials launched Operation Serpent, an unparalleled attack on the narcotics underworld of Asia. By dawn, groups of armed officers had raided ports, warehouses, and hidden jungle labs, confiscating over six metric tons of crystal methamphetamine.

The pills, which were directly traced to the notorious Golden Triangle — the jungle border area shared by Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand were packaged for sale throughout South Asia and East Africa.

The officials have put the street value of the haul at more than $1.8 billion, making it the biggest bust in Sri Lanka's history.

But the sheer amount of meth was only the beginning. Investigators uncovered a web of shell companies, cryptocurrency money laundering, and shipping smuggling routes that made this empire go undetected for years.

This report dissects how the operation went down, who the suspected masterminds are, and why experts say this bust has the potential to spark new waves of cartel violence.

The Golden Triangle: A Supermarket for Meth

The Golden Triangle has been synonymous with illicit narcotics since the 1960s. Once dominated by opium and heroin, the region has pivoted decisively to methamphetamine over the past two decades.

The meth industry here is industrial in scale, combining cheap chemical precursors smuggled from China with sophisticated jungle mega-labs protected by armed militias. Based on Interpol intelligence, the Golden Triangle produces over 70% of the world's meth supply now, fueling booming demand in South Asia, Australia, and Africa.

Sri Lanka, being strategically located with ports and a permeable coastline, became a natural transit point. But until recently, no enforcement effort had come anywhere near completely unveiling the extent of this pipeline.

A Four-Year Investigation

The seeds of Operation Serpent were planted in 2021, when an Interpol-led task force reported suspicious container activity landing in Colombo from Penang, Malaysia.

"We were witnessing cleaning chemical shipments significantly outpacing any legitimate demand," said a senior Sri Lankan Customs officer.

Through cross-matching bills of lading, shipping manifests, and satellite images, investigators picked up a sophisticated network of import-export companies listed to vacant storefronts and fake directors.

Wiretaps, undercover operatives, and cryptocurrency tracking were next. All the evidence led to one conclusion: This was no local syndicate it was a multinational cartel with ties to the most brutal Golden Triangle militias.

How the Smuggling Worked

Government officials say the syndicate used a multi-layered distribution system that was intended to confound detection:

Production

Mega-labs deep in Myanmar jungles converted industrial precursor chemicals into crystal meth.
The labs operated 24/7, protected by armed guards and electronic surveillance.

Maritime Transit

The meth was vacuum-packed into 25kg “tea” bricks.
Small trawlers ferried loads to motherships retrofitted freighters with hidden compartments.
These motherships rendezvoused off Sri Lanka’s southeastern coast.

Import and Storage

Smaller vessels then landed loads in Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and Colombo.
In Colombo, the drugs were hidden in bonded warehouses among legitimate shipments of spices and garments.

Distribution and Money Laundering

Domestic traffickers described smaller consignments repackaged for intra-regional distribution.
Proceeds were laundered via a Dubai property buying web, shell companies in Hong Kong, and cryptocurrency tumblers.

A Justia docket traces investigators tracking more than $500 million in transactions attributed to the syndicate to six nations.

The Raids

At the predawn darkness of June 30, 2025, four years of meticulous surveillance came to fruition. Code-named Operation Serpent, the operation was timed to hit all crucial points simultaneously on the syndicate supply chain.

Over 1,000 officers, including Sri Lanka's Special Task Force, customs enforcement officers, narcotic investigators, and maritime police, swept into 14 locations.

The Global Meth Route Map showing production, transit, and distribution routes

At the hub of the operation, the Colombo Port, customs officials and armed commandos descended on two containers marked weeks ago. The containers had lain there for months, camouflaged by mountains of fake documentation explaining their contents as "industrial cleaning supplies."

When the doors were forcibly opened by officers, they found two tons of vacuum-sealed high-purity methamphetamine in shrink-wrapped pallets stacked from floor to ceiling. Next to the drugs were satellite phones with military-grade encryption preinstalled, handwritten notebooks full of dozens of codenames, and laminated QR codes attached to cryptocurrency wallets that were reportedly worth millions of payment.

In Trincomalee Fishing Harbor, on the other hand, a team of sea officers boarded a trawler that had surreptitiously berthed at night. Within its diesel tanks, they discovered 800 kilograms of methamphetamines, cleverly concealed in watertight plastic drums to be set adrift should the ship be deliberately sunk.

Deeper in the Batticaloa jungles, three huge tin-roofed warehouses, camouflaged under netting and heavy greenery, uncovered the operation's producing and staging center. Police officers wore respirators before they entered the air was choking with sour chemical smells.

Inside, they discovered more than three metric tons of raw crystal meth, laid out across sorting tables and piled in "Degreaser Not for Human Consumption" barrels. Laboratory equipment, mixing vats, and industrial drying racks dominated the shanty lab.

At break of day, as the sun rose over the eastern shore, 74 suspects were arrested. Among them were 12 foreign nationals, ranging from Burmese chemical technicians, Pakistani logistics coordinators, and Thai maritime brokers, each thought to be middle-level operators in a supply chain that stretched across continents.

Photo collage showing Sri Lanka meth seizure evidence including meth pallets, trawler drums, chemical barrels, and encrypted communications tools.

The Alleged Kingpins

As reported by indictments submitted in Sri Lanka's High Court, CourtListener obtained records which showed that prosecutors had compiled an unusually thorough portrait of the leadership of the cartel.

Myanmar national Than Tun Khine, alias "Commander Tun" in underworld circles, was the suspected mastermind. Intelligence sources state that he had connections with the United Wa State Army, the Golden Triangle's strongest militia, which offered armed guards for jungle labs and safe passage through Myanmar's open borders.

M.N. Karunaratne, the locally based Sri Lankan businessman with legitimate shipping interests, is accused of orchestrating port logistics. Prosecutors allege Karunaratne had a retinue of customs clerks and warehouse managers on his payroll, paying millions of rupees in bribes to secure that containers were passed through without examination.

Pakistani financier Ali Khan Durrani was identified as the syndicate's head money launderer. Durrani is accused by authorities of creating cryptocurrency mixing services that laundered hundreds of millions of dollars, breaking transactions down to thousands of blockchain addresses before exchanging gains back into cash through Hong Kong-based shell companies.

Investigators suspect this group operated as a board of directors, convening from time to time in Dubai and Bangkok to plot course while shielding themselves behind successive layers of false identities and proxy ownership structures.

The Technology that Underpinned the Empire

While its size was certainly impressive, what truly differentiated this syndicate was its use of advanced technology.

Among the weapons found in raids and forensic examination:

Military-Grade Encryption: Everything was sent through satellite telephones and custom messaging apps that would automatically erase records.
GPS Jammers: Syndicate ships had jammers onboard to blind maritime positioning systems during transit through international waters.
Cryptocurrency Mixers and Tumblers: Precursor chemical and bribe payments were made anonymous through decentralized blockchain mixers, said to deal in over $500 million per year by investigators.
Deepfake Identity Documents: Law enforcement officials confiscated digital documents with artificially created passports and driver's licenses, complete with biometrically precise photos to sneak past facial recognition screening.

A top Interpol cyber crime investigator called the gang "a Silicon Valley start-up pretending to be a drug cartel."

International Cooperation

Operation Serpent would only have been possible due to historic cross-border cooperation, with agencies from four continents:

Interpol: Contributed real-time information on shipping container traffic and financial transactions.
Thailand's Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB): Shared chemical precursor sales and suspected logistics broker records.
Australia's Federal Police: Used drones and satellite imagery for maritime surveillance to detect mothership drop points.
U.S. DEA: Provided blockchain tracing software and helped connect cryptocurrency wallets to known cartel addresses.

One DEA official commented:

"This is the blueprint for 21st-century drug enforcement — no single country can dismantle these networks alone."

4 YEARS OF OPERATION SERPENT horizontal timeline

What Happens Next

Experts warn that this interruption is not the last word.

Sri Lankan officials dealing with intelligence and regional experts opine that the elimination of such a major player will unleash a stormy vacuum of power:

Rising Violence: Meth production facilities and smuggling routes will likely be fought over by competing militias in Myanmar and northern Thailand.
Surging Costs: Early shortages can cause wholesale meth prices throughout Asia and East Africa to rise, making replacement shipments more profitable.
New Trade Lanes: Cartels will quickly shift, redirecting flows along minor ports in the Maldives, Seychelles, and outlying Indian Ocean islands.

A Sri Lankan intelligence officer summarized:

"When you take out a syndicate this large, others scramble to take the place. We are preparing for a bloody re-shuffle."

Economic Impact

This cartel's fingers extended far and deep into Sri Lanka's economy and institutions.

Customs and Port Revenues:

Dozens of "legitimate" import-export businesses connected to the cartel paid taxes, port charges, and storage fees. Officials estimate the bust may lead to a short-term decline in port revenue, as shell companies fold and legitimate firms scrutinize supply chains.

Healthcare Costs:

More than 150,000 individuals across the country are addicted to meth, public health budgets already severely strained by the opioid epidemic, according to the Sri Lanka Medical Association.

Systemic Corruption:

They have opened internal probes into millions of bribes reportedly paid every year to customs managers and logistics supervisors, which call into question the regulation of the sector.

One reporter in Colombo reported:

"This was a parallel economy and it rivaled legitimate exports."

Eyewitness Accounts

Neighborhood residents around the Batticaloa jungle warehouses reported months of suspicious activity:

"At night, there were trucks without markings. Men carrying guns were at the gate. They claimed it was a fertilizer depot."

In Trincomalee, a fisherman who cooperated in exchange for immunity admitted:

"They paid me 200,000 rupees for one trip. I never asked what was in the drums. If I said no, someone else would get the money.

Even experienced customs agents were shocked by the quantity:

"We have never seen this much meth all together in one location. It's a reminder that crime and commerce are heavily intertwined."

The Numbers

To put the operation's scope into perspective:

6+ metric tons of meth
Street value: Estimated $1.8 billion
4 years of intelligence gathering
74 arrests in one morning
7 countries supporting the operation
12 foreign nationals apprehended

This is Sri Lanka's biggest narcotics bust and one of the biggest in Asia's history.

Policy Reforms Underway

Sri Lanka officials have revealed a range of emergency reforms to stop future penetration:

24/7 screening and random search of all incoming containers, irrespective of declared origin of cargo.
Forced background check and rotation of port staff holding sensitive posts.
Creation of a specialized maritime intercept unit, with patrol vessels and drones committed to tracking coastal smuggling routes.
Use of real-time blockchain analysis to monitor high-risk crypto wallets associated with transnational organized crime.

Global partners including Interpol, the DEA, and Australia's Federal Police have committed funding, training, and technology to maintain these operations.

Why It Matters Internationally

The repercussions from Operation Serpent will be heard far beyond Sri Lanka's coasts.

This case shows:

The industrial scale of meth production in the Golden Triangle — a region now rivaling Mexican cartels in volume and sophistication.
The globalization of organized crime, with syndicates seamlessly blending technology, legitimate trade, and violence.
The obsolescence of traditional enforcement models, as criminal enterprises evolve faster than most government agencies.

Regional policymakers and law enforcement leaders agree:

This is the new face of the drug trade, and it will inform security policy for the next decade.