COLOMBO: A large stock of illicit cigarettes worth nearly Rs.100 million was seized by Excise officers from a warehouse in Mattakkuliya, belonging to a wealthybusinessman.
In one of the largest detections of its kind, Excise officers seized 16,047 cigarette cartons containing over 3.2 million sticks. They also had seized a luxury vehicle used by the owner of the warehouse worth over Rs.seven million.
According to Excise sources, the cigarettes were found packed inside large used television sets and refrigerators in boxes suspected to have arrived from abraod.
The labels on the packages displayed many names of people suggesting that they may have been imported in the guise of passenger baggage.
The Sri Lanka Customs in recent times had seized several containers which included illegally imported goods declared as personal baggage in an attempt to evade the payment of taxes and duty.
When the DailyNews contacted Customs Media Spokesman Lesley Gamini for his comments over suspicions cast by Excise officers that the haul of cigarettes may have come from abroad bypassing Customs radar, he said that if the Excise Department makes a formal complaint the Customs could investigate the matter. The Excise officers had been investigating the matter after coming to know that a large stock of cigarettes had been smuggled into the country and were being circulated in the Colombo City.
The officers after weeks of investigation had been able to identify the above businessman as a possible suspect. After stopping his Van for inspection, they had found 250 cartons of cigarettes inside it.
He had later led officers to his warehouse located at Mattakkuliya. After investigations, the Commissioner General of Excise imposed a fine of Rs.two million on the suspect while taking steps to confiscate the stock. A comprehensive investigation is underway to determine how the stock had been brought by the businessman
The raid had been conducted by a team of officers led by Inspector A.R.Lambert on the instructions of Excise Commissioner General L.K.G. Gunawardena, and Deputy Excise Commissioner Crimes, Pushpakumara Silva.
