A Sri Lankan male was arrested at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) departure lounge this morning while attempting to smuggle out foreign currency worth Rs.48,309,692 concealed in his Baggage.


Customs Spokesman Leslie Gamini said Customs officials had confiscated the foreign currency consisting Kuwait Dinar 950, Japanese Yen 110000, Qatar Riyal 48500, Saudi Riyal 802000, American Dollar 72000, Euro 450, UK pound 30000 and UAE Dirham 33500.


The suspect, a 46-year-old resident of Mattakkuliya area in Colombo was arrested while he was bound to take a flight to Dubai via Qatar, he said.
The inquiry was being carried out by the Assistant Superintendent of Customs Mr. Thilanka Samaraweera, Mr. Muditha Vithana, Mr. Lakmal Tennakoon, Mr. Duncan Hettiarachchi, and Mrs. Sanduli Modanza.(Chaturanga Pradeep)


Pix by Deepa Adikari