Sri Lanka Customs officers at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake have detained a foreign businessman who attempted to bring in a stock of foreign cigarettes worth more than Rs. 5.9 million.
The 40-year-old foreign national arrived on a flight from Chennai on Saturday (August 1). Customs officers grew suspicious as he attempted to take two pieces of luggage through the airport’s Green Channel — the route reserved for passengers with nothing to declare — and stopped him for inspection.
The search uncovered 197 cartons of foreign cigarettes concealed inside the luggage, amounting to 39,400 individual sticks. Customs put the estimated gross value of the haul at around Rs. 5,910,000.
The seized cigarettes have been ordered forfeited to the state. Customs said the suspect was released after being made to pay a fine of Rs. 250,000 in connection with the illegal importation.
A recurring detection at Katunayake
The case is the latest in a steady run of cigarette seizures at the airport. Sri Lanka levies heavy duties on imported tobacco, and the margin between duty-paid and duty-free prices makes personal-baggage smuggling persistently attractive. Detections in recent weeks have included a Marawila businessman stopped with Rs. 4.65 million worth of cigarettes at BIA in late July, and a Malaysian national arrested in Colombo with 36,200 illegal sticks.
Officials have said the illicit trade deprives the Treasury of significant excise revenue while undercutting legitimate sales. In most Green Channel cases, Customs settles the matter administratively — forfeiting the goods and imposing a fine — rather than pursuing prosecution.
Source: Hiru News.
