Forex smuggler held at BIA

Yasaratne GAMAGE

An Indian air passenger who attempted to smuggle foreign currency including Swiss Francs and Euros valued at nearly Rs eight million to Singapore was taken into custody at the Bandaranaike International Airport by the Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) with the assistance of Airport Customs.

M Abdulla Nainamohammad of Ramanathapuram, India had 39,000 Euros and 16,000 Swiss Francs in his possession at the time of the arrest, the Customs said.

He had concealed the notes in his rectum after carefully packing them. The suspect was given a purgative to recover the foreign cash, Customs sources revealed.

He was about to board the 11.30 pm flight to Singapore Monday. Katunayake The suspect was arrested by the PNB following a tip off. Police handed over the suspect to the Customs to carry out further investigations. The suspect had come to Sri Lanka a few days ago and this could be the biggest currency smuggling incident, Customs officials said.