Lanka customs smoke out massive cigarette smuggling from Gulf

Published Monday, January 21, 2013

By Correspondent

The Customs Special Vigilant Task in Sri Lanka has foiled a major attempt to smuggle cigarettes from the Middle East valued at millions of dirhams.

According to a report in The Island, uncleared passenger baggage raised suspicion of the customs officers on duty at the Rank Container Terminal in Orugodawatte, Colombo, after it was found to be addressed to over 10 persons.

The baggage contained cigarettes, besides shoes, cardamom, cheese, cloves, refrigerators and vehicle spare parts.

The contraband labeled as luggage of Lankans, had been sent via the Bandaranaike International Airport from the Middle East.

The customs found that the names and addresses were false after investigation and a spokesman for the customs said that the smuggling masterminded had attempted to deceive them.

In a separate case, the customs officials also bust an attempt to smuggle in a water jet-ski and 24 motorcycle engines sent from Italy, the spokesperson told The Island.

He said that the package had been sent via sea adding that investigations were being carried out to trace the mastermind.

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