Foreigner caught at BIA with foreign cigarette haul

Sri Lanka Customs officers at Katunayake Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) arrested a foreign businessman who arrived from Chennai yesterday (01) after he attempted to illegally bring into the country a stock of foreign cigarettes worth over Rs 59 lakhs.

Customs officers grew suspicious of the 40-year-old foreign national, who had arrived on a flight from Chennai, as he attempted to take two pieces of luggage through the airport's Green Channel, and subjected him to inspection.

Sri Lanka Customs says that 197 cartons of foreign cigarettes (39,400 cigarette sticks), concealed within the suspect's luggage, were found, with an estimated gross value of around Rs. 5,910,000.

The seized goods have been ordered forfeited to the state, and Customs stated that the suspect was released after being made to pay a fine of Rs. 250,000 in connection with the illegal importation of the cigarette stock.