A raid at Boossa Prison yesterday (29), once again highlighted the corrupt and compromised nature of the national corrections system, with several mobile phones and other contraband found in the possession of organised criminal convicts. It is a well-known fact that a number of organised crime groups, especially ones involved in the narcotics trade, are managed by key figures who are held behind bars. These individuals, and those absconding overseas – particularly in India, Dubai, and other Middle East countries – continue to control Sri Lanka’s vast organised crime networks, with a degree of impunity which is increasing.  

The prisons system in Sri Lanka has many issues, many of which have been long-lasting and systemic. Prison overcrowding, lack of standards, and appalling conditions in most prisons are well known, and likely will take long-term restructuring and retraining to change. The Human Rights Commissions of Sri Lanka published a report based on a study of the Sri Lankan prison system in 2018, which describes in detail the various shortcomings and gaps in the prison system in Sri Lanka. However, the most apparent and recurrent crisis within prisons is the compromised nature of prison administration and the jailors who serve in prisons.

The recent finding of a number of mobile phones – specialised battery packs within the wards which house organised crime convicts – is a clear indication of how weak and porous the prisons administration is. The fact that a team of Special Task Force officers had been brought in from outside to find the contraband is telling of how effective and uncompromised the prison officials are in carrying out their basic duties. This amidst a continued crime wave in the Southern and Western Provinces of the island, with turf wars being fought between different organised crime groups, and vendettas being pursued. There is also an alarming trend of killing witnesses and former drug peddlers who have turned State witness, before they can speak their piece before the court. For those who have been following the chronology and trends of crime – particularly the narcotics trade – the collusion between some law enforcement, State, and prison officials and organised crime groups comes as no surprise.

In 2020, Ministry of Defence Secretary Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Kamal Gunaratne said the Special Task Force (STF) had deployed in the outer perimeters of the Welikada Prison and  Colombo Remand Prison – and at Angunakolapelessa Prison – to strengthen security. He said the decision was taken, especially, to provide more protection to these prisons and to thwart illegal activities, such as smuggling drugs and using mobile phones to operate crimes from prison cells. The move came after drugs, SIM cards, and mobile phones were once again detected from the Welikada Prison, which is Sri Lanka’s largest prison, and which includes the Magazine Remand Prison. Ironically, the Government had moved to install GSM phone radio frequency jammers at Welikada, Boossa, and other prisons, only to find that some prisons officials had routinely turned them off, or mapped “dead zones” so that their crime patrons in confinement could find the right place to receive calls and give out instructions.

Some years ago, several external parties and some in the intelligence community had recommended that the Government – under the Ministry of Justice or a similar authority – establish a completely new vetted unit, to take on corrections duties at high risk prisons where key organised criminal personalities would have been held. However, this did not happen, and why it failed to get off the ground remains a mystery. The Government and the Ministry of Defence later proposed a tactic which the former Government was fond of – and which the current administration seems to approve of – to recruit a number of ex-military officers for the task. While that may have been plausible in other countries, the involvement of ex-military personnel in organised crime – particularly as guns for hire – leaves the idea questionable. Why the Government is not keen to establish a new, civilian-led, well-trained, equipped, and vetted team to tackle prisons and law enforcement challenges, remains an unanswered question.