Easter Sunday Carnage : Probes and politics

island.lk · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Tuesday 24th February, 2026 The Mexican military on Sunday killed a drug lord, described as the most powerful cartel leader in Mexico. Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes aka El Mencho perished in a clash with the Mexican armed forces backed by US intelligence. Mencho was known the world over for his well-established drug distribution network. Members of the slain criminal’s cartel went berserk, torching vehicles and fuel stations in several parts of Mexico. They also blocked some highways with burning vehicles. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praised the armed forces for the successful operation. It is hoped that military operations will continue until the violent gangs are neutralised once and for all. There is no future for a country that is in the clutches of drug barons and terrorists. Mexico is now doing, on President Sheinbaum’s watch, what it should have done decades ago. Mexico has been home to several powerful drug cartels, such El Mencho’s CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel), Sinaloa Cartel, Beltran -Leyva Organisation and Los Zetas. They have been in the news globally, and their narcotic operations have affected the entire world. CJNG has a global network, which distributes dangerous drugs, such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. Among the powerful cartel leaders, killed by the Mexican military during the past several decades, was Torres Felix; he was shot dead in 2012. However, there has never been an all-out war on drugs as such in Mexico. One may recall that President Felipe Calderón sent the Mexican military into the cartel-controlled regions in 2006, marking an escalation in Mexico’s approach to the drug menace, but the narcotic cartels have been far from weakened. That operation made international headlines. If successive Mexican governments had taken on the drug cartels with might and main, perhaps the likes of El Mencho would not have emerged so powerful as to raise well-equipped private armies and run parallel governments. Successful military operations against powerful drug cartels in Mexico, etc., stand all countries in good stead, for they lead to a decrease in the international narcotics supply. Sri Lanka has been a victim of foreign drug cartels that operate through local agents, most of whom are based in Dubai and other havens for criminals. The incumbent government has embarked on a campaign to rid the country of the scourge of narcotics, and operations during the past one and a half years or so have yielded a lot of banned substances and helped net some powerful drug dealers. These operations must go on. The local underworld is controlled by drug barons and their hit squads have demonstrated their ability to strike at will. A soldier-turned Sicario, arrested over the recent double murder near the Tri-forces Headquarters complex in Akuregoda, is alleged to have committed 10 murders. He has been working for a drug lord residing overseas. There are many other such hitmen in the pay of drug barons, and all of them must be hunted down to make this country safe. In 2020, while being detained in the Boosa Prison, Podi Lassi and two other drug dealers, known as Kosgoda Tharaka and Pitigala Keuma threatened to harm the then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Defence Secretary General Kamal Gunaratne, and some senior prison officers. They bragged that although they were behind bars, their hit squads were out there and ready to carry out their orders. Such is their power. In September 2023, Nadun Chinthaka Wickremaratne alias Harak Kata almost made good his escape during an interrogation session at the CID headquarters. His plan to poison the police personnel on duty, and flee went pear-shaped thanks to some Argus-eyed STF personnel. It was subsequently revealed that Harak Kata had planned to use several commandos in the rescue operation. In November 2023, a military sniper was taken into custody for his alleged involvement in the plot to spring free Harak Kata and Kudu Salindu from the CID. A Lt. Colonel of the Army Commando Regiment was arrested for supplying ammunition to drug dealer Kehelbaddara Padme’s bodyguard, ‘Commando Salintha’. Besides, more than a dozen Police Narcotics Bureau officers were arrested in 2020 over their links to drug dealers. This shows how well established the drug Mafia in this country is. Minister of Public Security Ananda Wijepala, revealing the progress in investigations into the Akuregoda double murder and fielding questions from the Opposition, in Parliament, the other day, claimed one of the Opposition local councillors in the Southern Province had underworld links. Narcotics and politics are conjoined twins. Drug dealers are known to lavish funds on politicians and manipulate them. Hence, the need for thorough background checks to be conducted on all people’s representatives. Most of all, it needs to be found out whether there is any truth in the allegation that notorious drug dealer in exile, Kudu Lal, sponsors some local councillors in Colombo, and influenced the outcome of a mayoral election, with their help.