Following attempts to smuggle in cocaine consignments:

Customs step up: Brazil cargo scrutiny

By Chathuri Dissanayake

Following two botched attempts to smuggle in cocaine in sugar containers from Brazil by two different companies, Sri Lanka Customs have decided to carry out detailed inspections of all cargo from Brazilian ports. Three shipping terminals have agreed to carry out the detailed inspections for containers coming from Brazil.

“We decided to do this as there were two different companies who were caught smuggling in cocaine and we want to prevent any more smuggling of cocaine. The sugar importers also requested a thorough inspection to clear their names,” Lalitha Weerasinghe, Director Customs told the Sunday Observer.

According to investigations carried out by the Finance Ministry’s Special Narcotic Raid Unit, the smuggling is likely to have continued during the last ten years, Head of Finance Ministry Special Narcotics Raid Unit, Wing Commander Ravi Jayasinghe said.

However, both the Finance Ministry Narcotic Raid Unit and the Customs authorities are not aware of the current status of investigations as the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) remained tight-lipped about the investigations.

“We are not aware of the nature of the smuggling racket or what it is happening as we have not been informed of any details by the PNB. So we have taken independent decisions to prevent such incidents in the future,” Weerasinghe said.

All cargo shipped under the two companies involved in the cocaine smuggling have been directed to the High Risk Cargo Unit, where each container would undergo specialized inspection, he said.

Three terminals at the Colombo Port, Grey line 1, Rank Container Terminals (RCT) and Grey Line 2, will conduct detailed inspections.

All shipments including bulk cargo will undergo manual inspection where all containers will be emptied of their content – at least halfway through - to ensure that no contraband items are smuggled.

However to ensure that charges for the inspections remain fair to the importers the Grey line 1 and RCT have agreed to carry out the detailed inspection for the same fee charged for a random inspection, Weerasinghe said.

“We have requested the other terminal also for the same concessionary facilities and are awaiting their reply.”

Over 300 containers remain in the yard to be inspected following the decision, Custom Spokesperson and Director Dharmasena Kahadawa said. The Customs authorities also expect a drop in cargo arriving at the Colombo Port in the coming weeks due to the move, he explained.

At present only random inspections of about 40 containers are carried out daily at the terminals, Weerasinghe said. The majority of the shipments from Brazil bring in sugar and canned fish.

The move comes after Customs officials met with sugar importers where the importers themselves requested thorough inspections to be carried out by the Customs.

However the Customs said they will have to rely on outside manual labour services as the in-house labour capacity was unable to meet the heightened demand.

“We have allowed importers to bring in outside labour as the manpower available in-house will not be able to meet the demand. Our workers will not be able to work at the rate needed to unload and reload each container.”

However, the business community has encouraged the Customs authorities to establish a better system to prevent the Colombo Port being used for smuggling rackets and to prevent unnecessary delays in Customs clearance.

“As this is a serious issue of smuggling drugs, the shipping industry cannot complain. Precautions should be taken. However there are measures that can be taken to ensure that trade is not hindered in the process,” former chairman of the Sri Lanka Shippers Council Rohan Masakorala said.

The Customs should establish a process where Pre-shipment Certificates can be submitted by the importers as a guarantee of the contents of Cargo shipped to the port, he pointed out.

“If such certificates obtained from globally accepted and reputed companies are submitted then Customs will not require such manual inspection. There are other internationally accepted procedures to prevent smuggling. If not, the manual processes may open doors for harassment by different parties,” he said.