Rs. 50 million worth foreign cigarettes seized at BIA cargo village

By T.K.G. Kapila

Colombo, July 28 (Daily Mirror) - A stock of foreign-manufactured cigarettes worth Rs. 50 million was seized by the Central Intelligence Unit of the Sri Lanka Customs today at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) Cargo Village.  

The Customs highlighted that this is the largest and first consignment of cigarettes seized in the history of the Katunayake Airport as well as the Air Cargo Village.

The 2.23 million sticks of foreign brand cigarettes were falsely declared as towels and plastic cups and shipped via Dubai, bound for London, Sydney and Melbourne.  

According to Customs, goods in transit must be properly declared under Sri Lanka’s Customs Ordinance.  

Additional Director General of Customs Seevali Arukgoda said Sri Lanka is legally bound by a 2016 international convention to prevent illegal tobacco trade.  

The seized stock was handed over to the Sri Lanka Tobacco Company for destruction following investigations.