BY DARSHANA SANJEEWA BALASURIYA

The police on Saturday conducted a 4-hour countrywide special roadblock operation in which more than 40,000 vehicles were checked through nearly 2,000 roadblocks, police said.

They said the operation was conducted from 2 p.m to 6 p.m on Saturday and that a total of 14,420 police officers were deployed. A total of 80,985 individuals on 43,596 vehicles were examined during the operation and suspects were arrested with possession of narcotics, firearms and traffic violations in addition to the suspects wanted by the police. Accordingly, 172 suspects were arrested with possession of narcotics including heroin and cannabis.

Three locally made weapons, 8,942 litres of illegal liquor were also taken into custody.