Customs seize 200 mn sticks of foreign cigarettes hidden in 21 containers

By Prabhath Withana

Customs officials had seized over 200 million sticks of foreign cigarettes worth over nine billion rupees hidden in 21 containers, Customs Department sources said.

The Compliance and Facilitation Division of the Customs Departments investigated the 21 containers that had been marked as ‘Ceylon Black Tea’ and sent from the United Arab Emirates. The containers had been marked for re-exporting to countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, customs sources said, adding that the investigators found that forged shipping documents had been made for the containers. A name and address of a Sri Lankan tea company had been mentioned in the documents as the re-exporter.

It has also found that 12 other containers had been re-routed using similar documents from Colombo Port to countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Bangladesh, the customs sources said.

The Customs officials had contacted the names of foreign companies included in the documents but found that they were not aware of the fact that their names had been forged. The customs officials are planning to further investigate the matter with the assistance of international customs officials.

Further investigations are in progress under the guidance of Customs Director General Maj Gen (retd) G.V. Ravipriya by Customs Director Harsha Jayatilake, Deputy Customs Directors Dappula Arewatte and Wijearatne Bandara.