South Asia: UNODC supports Maldives and Sri Lanka in tackling drug-related illicit financial flows to counter terrorism

Male, Maldives and Colombo, Sri Lanka/15 December 2025: Drug trafficking generates vast illicit profits that fuel organized crime and can be diverted to finance violent extremism and terrorism. Each year, billions of dollars from illegal markets move across borders and are laundered through informal and digital channels while evading detection. Breaking these drug-related illicit financial flows (IFFs) is essential to disrupting criminal and terrorist networks and safeguarding national and regional security.

Through a set of two national validation meetings supported by the Government of Canada, in December, UNODC worked with authorities in the Maldives and Sri Lanka to strengthen their capacity to counter the nexus of drug trafficking, illicit financial flows and terrorism financing.

21 participants, including representatives from law enforcement agencies, financial intelligence units, prosecutors, and other key stakeholders reviewed and validated draft country research papers assessing how drug profits are generated, moved, and potentially diverted to support extremist activities. Discussions focused on emerging drug trends, vulnerabilities in financial systems, and the misuse of informal mechanisms such as hawala and virtual assets. Participants also examined systemic challenges, including the limited use of financial investigations in drug cases, weak interoperability between law enforcement databases, and legal ambiguities that constrain cyber-enabled investigations and digital evidence handling.

A key outcome of the meetings was the consolidation of legislative and operational gaps into clear, actionable insights. These findings created a strong evidence base to guide targeted capacity-building initiatives and inform potential legal and policy reforms. The need to strengthen financial investigation techniques, improve information sharing, and enhance cross-border cooperation was emphasised.

Participants committed to refining the draft assessments and contributing to next steps, including the development of awareness-raising and training activities planned for early 2026. Good practices such as controlled deliveries, undercover operations, and proactive financial profiling were shared, enhancing practical approaches to disrupting criminal and terrorist networks.

Insights from both meetings will feed into finalized country-specific research papers by January 2026, setting ground for new regional training and policy interventions and helping South Asian countries in translating analysis into coordinated action.

This activity contributed to SDG 16 and SDG 17: https://sdg-tracker.org/

(Supported by the Government of Canada)