No equipment to detect bus drivers using drugs: Police Spokesman

Sri Lankan police say the medical tests or the equipment needed to determine the use of narcotics such as heroin among private bus drivers had not yet been introduced to the legal system in Sri Lanka.

Police spokesman SSP Priyantha Jayakody made this revelation when questioned about the charge made by the Lanka Private Bus Owners Association that a significant number of bus drivers were using drugs.

The spokesman acknowledged that enacting legislation and providing necessary equipment to the police for drug testing was a timely need. However, the Police Spokesman dismissed the allegation that police were not paying enough attention to catching motorists driving under the influence of dangerous drugs.

He said police officers had been informed and the police obtained information from intelligence officials and especially raided bus parking places.

“The only time we can arrest them is when they are in possession of the drugs or using them,” the police spokesman said. He said a large quantity of cannabis was seized on 13 January near a main bus parking lot in Colombo. (Colombopage)