Given its geographic location, Sri Lanka is often used strategically as a transit hub for the trafficking of drugs. As a result, local drug consumption of illicit drugs is also high, with more than half a million people reportedly being addicted to drugs. Over the years, lab facilities became outdated, constraining important analyses and reporting work. 

UNOPS has handed over the renovated toxicology and narcotic laboratories to the government’s analyst department. The project is part of a larger KOICA-funded initiative to strengthen forensic drug analysis in the criminal justice system of Sri Lanka.

The improvements to the labs will help clear the backlog of cases and expedite responses to current cases at the government’s analyst department.