Customs seizes Silver Granules

19 January 2011 03:30 pm

Airport Customs officials seized silver granules weighing around five kilos and worth around Rs. 400,000 this morning from a dustbin at Bandaranaike International Airport, arresting two suspects who had arrived from Dubai, Airport Customs Superintendent Parakrama Basnayake said.

The customs received a tip off from cleaners in the airport that they had discovered a heavy parcel in a dustbin.

“When a group of customs officers were sent to the scene they found the silver granules wrapped in polythene and covered with paper”, he said.
“They had hidden the silver in a dustbin after they saw several customs officers conducting duty in the vicinity”, he added.

The suspects are residents of Negombo who are businessmen in the area. It was revealed that the suspects had bought the silver from Dubai for the purpose of making jewellery. The silver was confiscated and the suspects were fined by the Airport Customs. (Supun Dias)