Two women smuggling Rs.11.7Mn worth counterfeit cigarettes nabbed at BIA

By Kurulu Koojana Kariyakarawana   

Two local females, a businesswoman and her daughter attempting to smuggle a large stock of counterfeit cigarettes worth over Rs.11.7 million from Dubai were nabbed by the Police at the Bandaranaike International Airport during the weekend.   

The Police Narcotic Bureau (PNB) officials stationed at the BIA Arrival Terminal on information searched the two local females to find 391 cartons of Platinum brand cigarettes that contained 78,200 sticks.   

The 61-year-old trading woman and her 38-year-old daughter had arrived in Sri Lanka on Fly Dubai flight FZ 549 around 17.30 on Saturday. They both had been identified as residents of Gampola.   

The PNB officials took the contraband into custody and released the women on police bail ordering them to appear in Negombo Magistrates Courts on November 13.