SRI LANKA COAST GUARD HOLDS COORDINATING MEETING ON DRUG TRAFFICKING AT SEA IN SRI LANKA AND BANGLADESH

A delegation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) led by Mr. Alan Cole, head of the Global Maritime Crime Programme (GMCP) and a delegation from Bangladesh led by Mr. GSM Jafar Ullah, Additional Secretary, Public Security Division, Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) visited CGHQ Mirissa on 25^th November 2021. The purpose of the visit is to hold a coordination meeting on drug trafficking at sea in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Fruitful discussions were held with the visiting delegation and Commodore Janaka Nissanka, the Deputy Director General SLCG and other senior officers of the SLCG. Discussion mainly focuses on the establishing cooperation between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to counter drug trafficking at sea. Furthermore, it was also discussed the importance of sharing information, establishing point of contact (POC), the possibility of signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two countries and sharing of best practices. Accordingly, UNODC agreed to facilitate future cooperation in operations against maritime drug trafficking.