Customs seize illicit fags worth Rs 100 m

by Kurulu Kariyakarawana

The Customs Central Intelligence Bureau seized a container with a large stock of illicit cigarettes worth over Rs.100 million that has been falsely declared as washing detergent, Customs sources said.

The stock of cigarettes of a foreign brand in a 20-foot container from Dubai had arrived in the Colombo Port in the last week of December.

The container had about four million cigarettes and the sale of that particular brand is banned in Sri Lanka.

Customs CIB officials said that the stock had been smuggled into the country at a time the law enforcement officials were focused on the Presidential election.