Airport Customs officers at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) have arrested 18 passengers attempting to bring foreign-manufactured cigarettes worth Rs.31,380,000 into the country, NewsFirst reported on Friday.
Sri Lanka Customs said the group comprised two Sri Lankans and 16 Chinese nationals who arrived at the Katunayake terminal on flights from Dubai and Malaysia. Officers recovered 1,046 cartons containing 209,200 Chinese-manufactured cigarettes concealed inside 27 pieces of luggage belonging to the suspects.
The seizure is the largest single Chinese national group detained at BIA for cigarette smuggling in recent weeks. It follows a steady run of cigarette interceptions at the airport, including 14 Chinese passengers caught with Rs.20mn worth of cigarettes on May 28, three Chinese nationals arrested with Rs.6mn in cigarettes on May 25, and a Chinese businessman caught with Rs.34mn in cigarettes earlier in the month.
The Dubai and Malaysia transit routes are recurring channels in the Customs cigarette-smuggling pattern, with earlier batches from Dubai and Kuala Lumpur flagged in the same enforcement cycle.
Cigarette smuggling has emerged as one of the most active commercial-evasion offences detected at BIA in 2026, driven by stiff excise duties on imported tobacco and persistent demand. Customs has been expanding revenue collections across the year, exceeding monthly targets for the fifth consecutive month in May on the back of stricter enforcement and improved valuation practices.
Source: NewsFirst.
