Passenger using carbon paper to hide gems from scanners, nabbed at BIA

• The Customs detected precious stones weighing about 482.02 grams, valued at Rs.1.6 mn.

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana  

A local passenger who tried to smuggle a range of precious stones to India by concealing them in carbon paper to go undetected at airport X-ray scanners was nabbed by the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) security yesterday afternoon.  
The airport security officials stopped the passenger on suspicion at the X-ray scanners and found the gems, when they searched his baggage.  
The seized goods along with the carrier had been handed over to the Sri Lanka Customs for inquiries.  
Customs spokesperson cum Additional Director General Seevali Arukgoda told Dailymirror the passenger had tried to board a SriLankan Airlines flight UL127 to Chennai.  
The Customs detected a variety of precious stones weighing about 482.02 grams, which had been valued at Rs.1.6 million.   The passenger had carefully concealed the gems in his baggage by wrapping them in carbon paper, as the X-ray scanners could faintly see through the carbon paper.   The Customs is conducting further investigations.