The airport customs arrested an Indian who attempted to smuggle foreign currency worth around Rs.9 million to Singapore last morning.

They found 60,000 Euros which was hidden in his checked luggage. Customs believe that many such incidents have been reported throughout the last two to three years. He was taken into custody in transit after the officers detected his suspicious behaviour.

Customs made the biggest detection in the history of the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) when a local was arrested with foreign currency worth Rs.81.76 million when he attempted to smuggle them to Singapore on September 14.

He is suspected to have been transporting money on behalf of a wider network of foreign exchange centres that engage in illegal money transfer.

A senior customs officer said that foreigners and locals who want to avoid banks to transfer money hand over money to these centres. “These centres collect the money and charge a commission and the money is delivered by these men,” he said.

The Customs said the foreign currency included US Dollars, Sterling Pounds, Australian Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Kuwaiti Dinars, UAE Dirhams, Saudi Riyals, Swiss Francs and Euros. (Supun Dias and Deepa Adikari)