Rs. 3.1 m worth cigarettes imported on forged documents:

Chocolates, electrical items turn out to be fags
 

BY SARATH Malalasekera

THE Customs Revenue Task Force seized Rs. 3.1 million worth Gold Seal cigarettes imported on forged documents under the pretext of importing chocolates and electrical items.

The Customs Revenue Task Force, the brainchild of Customs Director General Sarath Jayatilleke, seized the consignment of cigarettes imported on forged documents. The cigarettes were among the unaccompanied baggages at a Colombo warehouse.

Investigations directed by Assistant Director of Customs K.A. Dharmasena revealed that the importer's name and address on the unaccompanied baggages were fictitious.

The consignment of 4.7 million cigarettes in 23,500 packages was of low quality and imported by sea and air from Dubai, Customs officials said.

Following the detection of the smuggled cigarettes by the Customs during the last several months, the Government revenue had increased by several billions, Dharmasena said.

If the smuggled cigarettes had not been detected, the Government would have lost several millions of rupees, he said.

Customs Superintendent Sisira de Silva, Customs Assistant Superintendents A.M.A. Chandrasena, Nimal Samaratunga, Jayantha Pushpakumara, Sudath Silva, D.S.K. Rupasinghe, Uditha Jayasinghe, Deepthi Dharmasiri and Nissanka Ratnayake conducted inquiries.