07 May 2024 - 1     - 396

In a bid to mitigate the pharmaceutical drugs abuse menace, the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) will back police and excise officials to identify and crackdown the trends of misusing psychoactive medicines.

05 May 2024 - 9     - 4167

A local passenger who tried to smuggle a range of precious stones to India by concealing them in carbon paper to go undetected by airport X-ray scanners was nabbed by the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) security this afternoon.

04 May 2024 - 18     - 1044

The most righteous statement to make would be to transform a society where criminals are not produced When the country has an accepted legal system in place, it is shameful and dangerous for a senior minister to say eliminate criminals and to threaten the lawyers not to appear for them, a lawyers’ collective said yesterday.

03 May 2024 - 13     - 1450

When the country has an accepted legal system in place, it is shameful and dangerous for a senior minister to say to eliminate the criminals and to threaten the lawyers not to appear for them, a lawyers’ collective said today.

30 Apr 2024 - 8     - 294

The political parties should publicize their election manifestos well in advance of any election, be it a Presidential or Parliamentary poll, to create a better and responsible political culture in the country, the Peoples’ Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said.

29 Apr 2024 - 8     - 837

The Excise Department of Sri Lanka has prohibited the sale of all kinds of alcoholic beverages in Divisional Secretariat areas in the country where May Day rallies and processions are held on Wednesday, May 1.

27 Apr 2024 - 8     - 4049

The claims over children being sent from Sri Lanka to Malaysia, which raised concerns of many regarding the fate of the children being sent abroad, took a fresh turn when the police found that the children were sent for higher education purposes, the Daily Mirror learns.

24 Apr 2024 - 4     - 3319

The chief local facilitator behind the organised child smuggling syndicate between Sri Lanka and Malaysia, which rocked the country with 17 child smuggling cases last year, was arrested by the Department of Immigration and Emigration at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), when he was deported from Malaysia today.

23 Apr 2024 - 19     - 1774

Sri Lanka Army yesterday said organising the Fox Hill Super Cross race on April 21st when the fifth Easter Attack commemoration was taking place in the country was unintentional, as heavy public criticism was underway for holding the event on a day of public mourning.

20 Apr 2024 - 3     - 1394

Two female passengers of the Republic of Guinea who tried to enter Sri Lanka by carrying Rs. 20 million worth of swallowed cocaine in their abdomens were intercepted by the Customs this morning.

19 Apr 2024 - 12     - 1027

Sri Lanka is facing an imminent threat in its health sector with high chances of substandard medicines like human immunoglobulin entering the market in the near future, as the law enforcement body of the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) has diminished to just a single officer since this week.

17 Apr 2024 - 6     - 589

The Excise Department of Sri Lanka, one of the three main revenue generating arms of the country’s Ministry of Finance is struggling with a severe dearth of staff even to perform day-to-day duties, as the 17 top rung positions are vacant for months now, the Daily Mirror learns.

16 Apr 2024 - 1     - 764

The border surveillance agents will have to rely on traditional methods that enabled the recent arrest of a female Madagascar national with swallowed cocaine worth over Rs.34 million, whereas an Advance Passenger Information system at airport could do wonders in tracking down drug smugglers, the Daily Mirror learns.

13 Apr 2024 - 11     - 2017

A female Madagascar national who tried to enter Sri Lanka with swallowed capsules containing cocaine worth over Rs. 26 million was intercepted by the Sri Lanka Customs at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) yesterday (12) evening.

12 Apr 2024 - 2     - 588

The Excise Department today denied fake news circulating on social media that liquor shops will be opened on April 13.

11 Apr 2024 - 9     - 768

The Department of Excise is planning to launch a special operation in Colombo during the two festive dry days targeting illegal booze sellers and to implement law strictly during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year period.

09 Apr 2024 - 5     - 1988

A resident from Jaffna who had paid Euro 7,000 to obtain a forged Polish visa affixed to his Sri Lankan passport, was nabbed by the Immigration and Emigration Department officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), whilst trying to leave the country.

07 Apr 2024 - 13     - 2646

To mark the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, the Department of Excise has banned the countrywide sale of liquor on April 12 and 13, except for the star class hotels.

02 Apr 2024 - 2     - 651

About ten unlawful attempts by the Sri Lankans to leave their homeland for good in search of European greener pastures have been thwarted by the local border controlling agents during the first quarter of this year.

30 Mar 2024 - 20     - 1875

Three Indian nationals who were engaged in employment at restaurants in Nuwara-eliya by violating their work visa conditions were nabbed by the Immigration and Emigration Department yesterday.

27 Mar 2024 - 3     - 580

The present widely spread rumour about slashing of liquor prices for the upcoming Sinhala and Tamil New Year has no basis in it, the Department of Excise said today.

27 Mar 2024 - 11     - 1575

The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) have made a startling recovery that recent flooding of unregistered skin treatment medicines found in the local market as cosmetics could have serious health hazards.

20 Mar 2024 - 13     - 1820

Meeting a record annual tax revenue target of Rs.232 billion for the year 2024 is questionable, as Sri Lanka’s liquor consumption has drastically decreased in recent years owing to its ever increasing prices, as revealed by the Chief of Excise Department.

14 Mar 2024 - 4     - 1609

The series of raids made in the North and East over the weekend to seize a large stock of liquor bottles with forged security stickers was over a deal that went sour between the Excise and liquor manufacturers, Opposition MP Harsha de Silva said.

13 Mar 2024 - 8     - 1449

The Department of Immigration and Emigration took 21 young Indian nationals into custody yesterday for operating at an online marketing centre in Negombo by violating their tourist visa conditions.

11 Mar 2024 - 3     - 959

In a series of multiple snap raids carried out over the weekend, the Department of Excise has seized a large stock of local liquor bottles with forged security stickers from Northern, North Central and Eastern Provinces.

10 Mar 2024 - 2     - 741

A large stock of counterfeit cigarettes worth over Rs.1.1 million, which is suspected to have been smuggled into the country through sea routes, was seized by the Police Special Task Force (STF) from the Ampara bus stand today.

04 Mar 2024 - 8     - 1673

The skyrocketing prices of coconuts will have a serious effect on the packed rice and curry meals in the future, as most of the curries are prepared with the coconut cream, food industry trade unions said.

01 Mar 2024 - 0     - 2513

The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) officials who went to raid a pharmacy in Puttalam that had been operating sans a licence, had to take a ‘tough stance’ when a secretary of the infamous gold smuggling Parliamentarian Ali Sabri Raheem had tried to influence them from performing their duties, the Daily Mirror learns.

28 Feb 2024 - 36     - 3400

Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) vowed stern legal action against the Adani-sponsored wind power project in Mannar if the proposed environmental concerns on the EIA is not heeded by the Central Environment Authority (CEA), saying over one million birds will be affected annually if the project came into being.

21 Feb 2024 - 2     - 895

Amid the ’Yukthiya Operation’ crackdown in the Western Province, there has been a concerning trend of drug addicts increasingly turning to pharmaceutical drugs as alternative sources due to the shortage of heroin, ice, or cannabis and the authorities have launched a major operation in the western province targeting dozens of errant pharmacies that sell psychoactive drugs to drug addicts.

20 Feb 2024 - 8     - 956

In completion of seven years of truth-seeking agony to learn the whereabouts of their missing kith and kin during the war, the family members of the enforced disappearances are to stage a mass procession in Kilinochchi this morning.

19 Feb 2024 - 6     - 732

If Sri Lanka is to adopt a nuclear energy generating project, then the country should first have a firm legal framework in place, was the opinion of an international atomic energy expert.

13 Feb 2024 - 10     - 2277

Sri Lanka Customs today thwarted an attempt to smuggle four container loads of readymade garments worth over Rs.150 million, which had been imported from Malaysia falsely declared as fabric.

10 Feb 2024 - 9     - 2215

An employee attached to a private cleaning company at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) was nabbed by the Sri Lanka Customs officials while attempting to smuggle out gold worth over Rs. 58 million early this morning, sources said.

03 Feb 2024 - 13     - 1235

The Lawyers’ Collective, in an open letter to Minister of Public Security Tiran Alles yesterday said the Yukthiya Anti-drug Campaign must conform to the rule of law and should not be a passionate, personal initiative that seeks implementation outside the law.

30 Jan 2024 - 4     - 1059

The Immigration and Emigration Department yesterday asked the local travelers to be extremely cautious of bogus travel agents who would arrange fake foreign visas or travel documents for exorbitant rates, following such a passenger with a fake Italian visa was intercepted at the airport.

26 Jan 2024 - 1     - 1573

The Immigration and Emigration Department officials at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) searched two Sri Lankan men bound for Dubai on suspicion yesterday and found forged Italian resident visa cards in their possession.

23 Jan 2024 - 18     - 3026

A leading private hospital in Colombo that stirred controversy by selling government price controlled drugs for exorbitant rates, had reportedly pleaded guilty in advance when the case was scheduled to be taken up today in the presence of the complainant and other state officials, the Daily Mirror learns.

22 Jan 2024 - 5     - 769

The National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) who visited the controversial plant involved in the human immunoglobulin scam today for the second day, searched the entire premises prior to taking several computers and samples of medicines into custody for further inquiries, the police said.

22 Jan 2024 - 11     - 1117

Government’s move to pass the Online Safety Bill in Parliament this week and to bring repressive laws to take the country into a dictatorship is a narrow effort to suppress right to expression in winning the upcoming election, leading media and civil society groups voiced their opinion yesterday.

19 Jan 2024 - 1     - 1052

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) will accompany NMRA and CEB officials on a second visit to the infamous factory involved in the human immunoglobulin scam on Monday with its owner, as the latter had refused to cooperate with the authorities during the first visit, the Daily Mirror learns.

16 Jan 2024 - 7     - 1050

With continuing incidents of the police obstructing the duties carried out by the Excise in countrywide operations and detections owing to instances of miscommunication, the Department of Excise is to take the matter up with the Acting IGP in the coming days, the Daily Mirror learns.

11 Jan 2024 - 4     - 988

Sri Lanka Customs yesterday displayed a massive cigarette stock worth over Rs.144 million, which was seized recently after they arrived in the country from Cambodia and Dubai as used clothes and cashew.

09 Jan 2024 - 15     - 1997

The proprietor of Isolez Biotech Pharma AG (Pvt) Ltd. cum the chief suspect of the substandard human immunoglobulin scandal that rocked the entire medical industry has refused to cooperate with the NMRA and CID officials yesterday when he was escorted to the plant on an inspection tour, the police said.

08 Jan 2024 - 14     - 1815

Journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge was killed with an ulterior motive to silence all journalists and the authorities have failed to bring the culprits to book even after 15 years of his murder, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka said yesterday.

05 Jan 2024 - 19     - 2587

A leading private hospital in Colombo, which had allegedly billed its patients with exorbitant rates for common drugs that has a maximum retail price had been summoned by the courts following charges filed by the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).

05 Jan 2024 - 2     - 410

One of the country’s top drug-busting bodies setup at the airport to detect the flow of illicit intoxicants, the Customs Narcotic Control Unit has seized drugs worth over Rs.2.5 billion during last year, made another recent detection at the Central Mail Exchange (CME).

04 Jan 2024 - 3     - 765

A Sri Lankan man who was trying to smuggle in a stock of counterfeit cigarettes worth over Rs.2.7 million from Oman was nabbed by the police at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) this morning.

03 Jan 2024 - 2     - 764

The Sri Lanka Customs Revenue Task Force last evening seized a gift pack containing a cannabis variety Hashish worth over Rs. 61 million sent from Italy, the Customs spokesman said.

03 Jan 2024 - 19     - 2529

In the face of having to collect additional tax revenue of staggering Rs.160 million per day from 1st January owing to the new VAT regulations, the Excise Department of Sri Lanka is on the brink of collapsing as its entire top rung of uniform staff are scheduled to retire in the coming three months, the Daily Mirror learns.

01 Jan 2024 - 14     - 2538

Sri Lanka Customs has made its highest revenue generation in history, a recorded Rs.970 billion last year with only 990 staffers in hand and with restrictions on highest income on imports of automobiles still in place.

25 Dec 2023 - 7     - 2038

A group of staffers of the Independence Television Network (ITN) is to seek Supreme Court intervention over the irregularities of a voluntary retirement scheme of the state institution, which is underway at present, the Daily Mirror learns.

20 Dec 2023 - 5     - 1697

A major forged visa printing racket for European and Asian countries was busted by the Police Special Task Force (STF) in Kurunegala today and two operatives were nabbed, whilst the mastermind of the racket is still absconding, the police said.

19 Dec 2023 - 18     - 2006

Condemning the recent remarks by Public Security Minister Tiran Alles on eliminating underworld and drug operatives on sight, legal experts of the bar yesterday said Sri Lanka is not a police state to eliminate criminals when a legal system is in place.

18 Dec 2023 - 2     - 944

The lives of schoolchildren and their health are at great risk owing to substandard stationery material and food carriers they use, which are being imported for cheaper rates defying prescribed standards, a medical specialist attached to the Lady Ridgeway Hospital said.

15 Dec 2023 - 4     - 643

The government should positively intervene on behalf of the issues pertaining to a workforce that brings an annual income of Rs.5 billion and saves the migrant workers from contracting HIV, the pressure groups urged yesterday.

14 Dec 2023 - 15     - 1533

The Government announcement of flexible opening hours of bars and liquor stores as a result of budget reading 2024 and its implications on the alcohol industry has a serious impact on health and economy of the country, the ADIC said yesterday.

11 Dec 2023 - 10     - 10274

A Sri Lankan national who tried to leave for Canada with a forged Canadian travel document, which had received for Rs.4 million, was nabbed by the Immigration authorities at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) last evening.

07 Dec 2023 - 9     - 1024

Sri Lanka Customs detected parcels containing psychedelic drugs worth over Rs.60 million sent from the USA and Canada at a local courier agency today.