A Chinese woman has been arrested at Bandaranaike International Airport with a consignment of smuggled cigarettes valued at about Rs. 3.06 million.
The arrest was made in the early hours of Monday by officers of the Police Narcotics Bureau’s Katunayake Airport Unit, as the passenger attempted to leave the airport.
Police said the suspect is a 44-year-old beautician. She had bought the cigarettes in China and travelled to Kuala Lumpur before flying on to Katunayake aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH179, according to Ada Derana.
A search of her luggage and backpack uncovered 102 cartons holding 20,400 cigarette sticks of various Chinese brands, concealed inside.
The suspect and the seized stock were due to be produced before the Negombo Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Investigations are continuing.
The two outlets that reported the arrest differ on the suspect’s home province: Ada Derana said she is from Zhejiang Province, while NewsFirst identified her as being from Xinjiang.
A steady run of airport detections
The case is the second significant cigarette seizure at Katunayake in three days, and follows a pattern of detections at the airport this year.
Sri Lanka Customs on Saturday stopped a 40-year-old foreign businessman arriving from Chennai with 197 cartons worth Rs. 5.91 million in his baggage. He was released after paying a fine of Rs. 250,000 and the goods were forfeited to the state.
Earlier detections include a Marawila businessman stopped at BIA in late July with Rs. 4.65 million worth of cigarettes, and a Malaysian national arrested in Colombo with 36,200 illegal sticks.
Sri Lanka imposes heavy duties on imported tobacco, and the gap between duty-paid domestic prices and prices abroad makes personal-baggage smuggling a persistent problem. Monday’s case is notable for having been handled by the Police Narcotics Bureau rather than Customs, and for proceeding to the Magistrate’s Court rather than being settled administratively with a fine.
