Agencies seize Rs.11.1 Mn worth illegal cigarettes during weekend

Colombo, October 6 (Daily Mirror) - Law enforcement agencies running operations in and outside the airport made a couple of detections of illegal cigarettes worth over Rs.11.1 million during the weekend and arrested two females and a male.

Two Sri Lankan women who tried to smuggle a large stock of imported cigarettes worth over Rs.10.8 million (Rs.10, 800,000) into the country whilst returning from Abu Dhabi and Dubai were intercepted at the Bandaranaike International Airport on Saturday morning.

Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) officials stationed at the BIA Arrival Terminal searched the women on suspicion and found 360 cartons of a brand containing 72,000 sticks of cigarettes in their baggage.

The arrested middle-aged women are from the Warakapola and Hambantota areas, BIA sources said.

One of them had arrived from Abu Dhabi on Etihad Airways EY 394 flight whilst the other had come from Dubai on FitsAir flight 8D 822.

They were released on police bail and notified to appear before the Negombo Magistrate’s Courts on Wednesday (09). The illegal cigarettes were forfeited.

Meanwhile, the Police Special Task Force (STF) from the Puttalam Camp seized 2,020 sticks of a popular branded cigarettes, which had been smuggled into the country sans paying duty.

The STF conducted a raid at Thabbowa Junction in the Karuwalagaswewa area and took a 54-year-old man into custody with illegal cigarettes worth Rs.330,000.

The suspect was handed over to the Karuwalagaswewa Police Station for further inquiries.