Sri Lanka Customs uncovered two separate attempts to smuggle large quantities of dried turmeric concealed inside consignments of imported dried chillies on Monday, seizing a combined 13,710 kilograms of the regulated spice.
In the first detection, officers seized 6,600 kilograms of turmeric hidden in a shipment imported from India by a businessman based in Kandy. A separate operation on the same day uncovered another 7,110 kilograms of turmeric concealed within a chilli consignment imported by a Badulla-based trader, Newswire reported.
Both shipments were declared as dried chillies and entered through standard import channels. Investigators are now tracing the parties involved and assessing duty evasion and import-licensing breaches.
The seizures continue a run of high-volume turmeric busts across the past week. Customs uncovered 16 tonnes of turmeric and cashew hidden inside gypsum plasterboards at a Panwila importer on May 1, and six tonnes concealed in a refurbished-tools shipment from India on April 29.
Turmeric imports are tightly restricted to protect domestic cultivation and tax revenue. Concealed shipments routed through India have become a recurring smuggling vector, with traders increasingly using cover loads of agricultural commodities and building materials to mask the contraband.
Source: Newswire.
