Sri Lanka Customs has foiled a large-scale cigarette smuggling attempt, seizing a consignment of illicit Chinese cigarettes with a market value exceeding Rs.450 million, the department said.
The seizure was made by the Customs Central Intelligence Unit, which acted on international intelligence indicating that the shipment was being brought into the country disguised as refrigeration equipment. According to Customs, the cigarettes had been carefully hidden inside insulated units declared as “cold storage panels” in an apparent bid to slip past inspectors at the border.
The consignment contained more than 18,000 cartons of Chinese-manufactured cigarettes, amounting to around 3.6 million individual sticks, Customs said. Officials stated that the shipment had been addressed to a company located in the Dehiwala area.
Customs added that the smuggling operation is suspected of being linked to a group of Chinese nationals living or working in Sri Lanka, and that investigations are continuing to identify those behind the racket.
Authorities noted that had the contraband not been intercepted, the state would have lost a significant amount of tax revenue, as legally imported and locally manufactured tobacco products are subject to heavy excise duties. The seizure is among the more substantial cigarette hauls recorded by Sri Lanka Customs in recent months.
