A massive consignment of foreign cigarettes worth around Rs. 792 million, smuggled into the country from India under the guise of importing photocopy paper, has been seized by the Central Investigation Directorate of Sri Lanka Customs.
Customs investigations revealed that this was a large-scale racket carried out through the sophisticated use of forged documentation. The smugglers had declared in the import documents that the container held photocopy paper and ordinary paper.
Their subsequent plan was to transport the container to a company registered under a fake address in the Kandana area. However, that plan was foiled due to the sharp vigilance of Customs officials.
Upon an intensive inspection of the container, officials managed to seize 457 cartons of foreign cigarettes concealed inside.
One suspect linked to the racket has already been arrested. Sri Lanka Customs has launched stringent investigations and legal proceedings to curb such illegal smuggling operations. The Customs Central Investigation Directorate is conducting further extensive probes to uncover the wider network behind the incident.
