Airport PNB nabs inbound and outbound gold smugglers

By Norman Palihawadane

The police took into custody two individuals at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in Katunayake for smuggling in a stock of gold.

 The arrest was made by the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) officers at the BIA. They first nabbed an individual, who arrived from Chennai, along with a stock of gold weighing 1.8 kilos. Later, they arrested another for aiding and abetting the smuggler.

Police said that the stock of gold jewellery was worth around Rs. 28 million.

The suspects were identified as residents of Wellampitiya and Grandpass, police said.

 Meanwhile, in a separate incident, the PNB branch, at the BIA, arrested a woman who tried to fly out of the country with a stock of undeclared gold.

The 38-year-old was apprehended along with 814 grams of liquid gold, police said.

Police said that the woman was a resident of the Wellampitiya area.

She was handed over to the Customs officers at the airport for further investigations