A large stock of foreign cigarettes worth more than Rs.4 million allegedly smuggled into the country by a billionaire businessman was seized and the businessman taken into custody by the Panadura –Walana Anti Vice Squad yesterday during a raid on a house at Dharmarama Road in Dematagoda.
Police carried out the raid on a tip off and recovered the stock of cigarettes that had been hidden in the businessman’s two-storey house. The police also seized several suspicious documents including a personal telephone directory and bank passbooks.
Preliminary investigations revealed that he had been carrying on the racket for a long time with the help of several others. Police said they had initiated investigations to arrest others involved in the racket.
Police personnel led by SI Lasantha are conducting further investigations on the instructions of Panadura – Walana Anti Vice Squad OIC Duminda Balasuriya.
(Dayaratne Pathirana)
Pix by Dayaratne Pathirana
