Sri Lankan authorities arrest ex-minister’s son over 500 million rupee drug bribe

Rakitha Rajapakshe detained for allegedly taking cash to secure the release of a notorious underworld kingpin.

Sri Lankan authorities arrested the son of a former justice minister on Thursday for allegedly accepting a massive bribe to engineer the release of a high-profile drug kingpin extradited from Madagascar.

Rakitha Rajapakshe was taken into custody by the country’s primary anti-graft agency. He is accused of negotiating a 500 million rupee bribe to free the detained drug suspect, who was brought back to the country in 2023 through a coordinated operation involving Interpol.

According to officials, the illicit negotiations took place whilst Rakitha’s father, Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, was serving as the minister of justice and prison reforms. The planned release of the criminal was ultimately aborted because the sitting government lost the 2024 general elections.

Despite the operational failure, the Bribery Commission confirmed in an official statement that Rajapakshe had already pocketed an advance of 120 million rupees from the agreed sum.

The underlying drug suspect, Nadun Chinthaka, notoriously known across the region as Harak Kata, is categorised by law enforcement agencies as one of the most dangerous drug dealers currently heading an organised underworld criminal network