President Ranil Wickremesinghe has instructed his Senior Adviser on National Security and Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka to set up a Secretariat with full powers to counter the narcotics menace.
Related plans were discussed with the heads of security departments at the Ministry of Defence last week.
The special Secretariat will strengthen the Presidential Task Force on Drug Prevention and granted related powers under a special Act passed in Parliament.
Some of the main tasks of the Secretariat will be the setting up of a separate security division to check narcotics coming into Sri Lanka and arresting drug dealers in the country.
Discussions regarding the powers of the Secretariat are ongoing with the Chief of Staff to the President, Sagala Ratnayaka.