Rs.535Mn worth high-end phones, fags seized in multiple Customs detections

Pic by Nimalsiri Edirisinghe

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

In two major detections carried out by Sri Lanka Customs  yesterday, a passenger smuggling over 500 phones from the airport and a  large consignment of cigarettes arrived at the Colombo port with a total  value of over Rs. 500 million were seized.   

The Customs Revenue Task Force (RTF) on suspicion took a 20-foot container that arrived at the Colombo Port from the Port of Jabel  Ali of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) into custody and found a large  stock of foreign cigarettes.

The stock of foreign cigarettes had arrived in a 20-foot container from the Port of Jabel  Ali of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)    

The consignment declared as office chairs were examined in  the presence of Customs Chief Sarath Nonis, Additional Director General cum Media Spokesperson Seevali Arukgoda and officials of the Ceylon  Tobacco Company (CTC).   

The sleuths found 2.5 million sticks of cigarettes of the  ‘Manchester’ brand in 250,000 cartons packed inside the container, which  has been valued at Rs.435 million. The sale and consumption of foreign-made cigarettes is prohibited in Sri Lanka.   

Meanwhile, the Customs officials stationed at the Arrival  Terminal of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) took a  suspicious passenger in for questioning and searched his baggage to find  brand-new mobile phones in them.   

The authorities found 528 mobile phones of the brands of  Apple, Samsung, Redmi and Google Pixel, which had been valued at Rs.100  million. Some of the branded phones had been valued at even Rs.500,000.     

The suspect, a 32-year-old man from Kattankudy, Batticaloa had arrived in the country on SriLankan Airlines flight UL 226.